The witching hours are upon us – and for all the folks in Freestown, Anywhere USA – Mayor Wando declares that we take a moment with the spooky time of year we have before us: sit back & relax while we enjoy some tunes. As mentioned in previous columns, “for over 100 years, music and cannabis have been intertwined.”
From the early days of the American creation of jazz and with it jazz musicians – cannabis has been a bit player for much of the time. Associated early with jazz musicians such as the inimitable Sastchmo himself – on up through the ages and you see use increase among rock & roll artists, reggae and blues and rock musicians.
It doesn’t necessarily matter what type of music you enjoy, all music can be enhanced by the use of cannabis, because our bodies process sound from the spinal cord to the cortex.
“The brain is really on fire when it listens to music, just from a physiological point of view. That’s really important because there’s pitch, there’s rhythm, there’s harmony, there’s timbre. That’s an enormous amount of work the brain does when it listens to music.”
The “CB1” receptors, the cannabinoid receptors in the endocannabinoid system, are some of the most prominent within the Central Nervous System (CNS), these areas light up with activity when the listener is hearing music.
With cannabis and music, it’s the complex dance of lowering cortisol (the stress hormone) and letting our favorite little homie dopamine get to work.
Again, most of the evidence is anecdotal because of the lack of scientific study with cannabis because of its Schedule 1 designation.
There are some studies, but our hope is there is an actual in-depth study about the associations of cannabis to many things: pain management, appetite stimulation, cancer treatment assistance. As time marches on, we can hope that patients are able to get the attention cannabis deserves.
Not meaning to wax poetic – but it’s an interesting arc when it comes to personal tastes, where we are at the moment in time and with whom we are with that can all enhance the feelings of listening to music, playing music and understanding the ways that we are able to, in the immortal works of Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, “Not too slow, not too fast. Kind of like half-fast…”
Speaking of timing, Halloween is a great night to try and use edibles. In the last column, we talk about how edibles interact with our systems – but there’s an interesting fact told to me the last time I was in Michigan. Many people think that to get the most out of the edibles – they should eat it on an empty stomach.
This is incorrect, and can actually lead to your body digesting the edible too fast and you wind up not feeling much of anything. The best way to enhance and get the full effect of the THC edible, is to have some sort of sugar or fat in your stomach.
I know, I know, an odd tidbit. The THC molecules attach themselves to fats and oils // sugars and alcohols.
To then receive full extraction you want to have some sugary or fatty type foods in your stomach so that the THC molecules have something to attach to be absorbed and changed in your lower intestine. Halloween candy is perfect for this!
One of the interesting things that I have noticed, and I am not sure if it is the fact that I am getting older – or if the actual idea of cannabis smoking and partaking has changed so much in 30 years? When first out of college and knowing that my life and career would not be going in the direction previously thought – I was able to try cannabis. In the first years, it was always as a community. It was always a session.
I would go to someone’s house, or be on the way somewhere and stop off at a friend’s house and inevitably – a sesh would start. Flash forward 25 years, and there’s still a community – a huge community of like-minded individuals. It’s just interesting to me that as I have aged, so have my tastes in cannabis consumption.
If there’s an option of a group smoke sesh, that’s great, but I have seen personally that my personal sesh goes to the more quiet and reflective use alone. Musings from a silver haired Mayor I suppose…
Anywho, buy an extra bag of candy, crack a beverage, fire up the jukebox and listen to the below playlist.
The ins-and-outs of cannabis consumption differ from person to person, can change over time and for the casual consumer, need to be stair-stepped into for the best experience. As always, cannabis use is a person-by-person experience, so not everyone’s experience is the same.
Take your time, enjoy the ride. Email Mayor Wando: questions@mayorwando.com.
Remember, we’re not telling you to use cannabis, but if you do, be informed.
This article appears in Oct. 1-31, 2025.