If you thought smoking up is something only the "cool kids" do, you're about to be proven wrong by this grandmother, who believes that having smoked cannabis for the last five decades is the strongest factor behind her good health even at this age.
Carol Francey, a Vancouver native, threw away "all her pills" long ago and now credits her marijuana habit for helping her manage her arthritis, sciatica and insomnia, saying her medication used to slur her speech and affect her balance.
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At the ripe age of 70, the former drugs and alcohol counsellor has also been campaigning for cannabis legislation in Canada with the group 'Grannies for Green' ever since her son was held back a year at school for smoking marijuana.
She likes to encourage other, fellow marijuana smokers, to what she refers to as 'coming out of the closet'. She said: "We need to help older people have a better quality of life. Cannabis helps you to overcome anxiety about day-to-day life and stop sweating the small stuff."
Advocating how cannabis helps to overcome anxiety in a day to day life, Ms Francey, who grows cannabis in her garden, said: Now [I have] a little concentrated oil which relaxes, soothes, repairs and prevents illnesses.
"A hot coffee with a toasty cannabis tincture works well for arthritis, pain and sleep. [I'll inhale] a dab for sciatica and I'm after that I can walk...I'm eating healthy foods, walking daily, doing yoga, a little meditation and writing too."
"We need to help older people have a better quality of life. Cannabis helps you to overcome anxiety about day-to-day life and stop sweating the small stuff. A cannabis community was there waiting for when I could 'come out of the closet'."
Ms Francey who started smoking cannabis at the age of 17, kept the habit to herself for the longest time as she feared it would affect her career as a drugs counsellor. "I didn't like the effects of alcohol on myself or others, but I was drawn to the creative, fun and intelligent cannabis community," she shared.
"I kept my distance from others I might have had as friends. I kept this secret from all but my closest people. Had cannabis been more accepted I could have offered greater contributions to my community."
"I hope my example as a professional social worker and middle class older woman will inspire others like me to self educate themselves and emerge with their own unique voice," she added.
Ms Francey claimed, "I'm not your ordinary granny. I'll bake cookies in the morning, enjoy a tincture-infused coffee then take my dog Bill for a walk near the river. I cook with and smoke cannabis. Tinctures, vapourizers, dabs, capsules and edible butters all have their place in our house."
As for looking after her seven-year-old grandson every week, Ms Francey revealed, "It's too early to explain when he doesn't see or hear about cannabis and is not part of his home life. I would not use cannabis with a teen until age 19."
