Author: Natalie Wu

BERKELEY, Calif. — In January of 2018, the sale and cultivation of recreational marijuana was legalized in the state of California, opening a new market for potential users. Many people walked into apothecaries looking for cannabis, only to realize that apothecaries do not sell marijuana but instead offer a variety of non-psychoactive herbs targeted toward healing instead of getting high.

What these people who wanted to get high recreationally needed to be going to was a dispensary. Dispensaries sell cannabis: a psychoactive drug which, although legal, is still regulated in the state of California.

The natural remedy world has been around for ages, and cannabis isn’t the only herb around. Apothecaries sell various herbs besides tobacco and cannabis. These herbs are often unregulated by the FDA.

“There are herbs than can be used for pain, that can be used for digestion, for your immune system,” said Ruthie Elizabeth, an employee at the Twisted Thistle Apothecaire.

In fact, most people walking into an apothecary are an entirely different niche than the people who walk into a dispensary.

The only thing that both stores sell is CBD, but it is important to know that hemp-derived CBD, which can be found at an apothecary, and marijuana-derived CBD, which is found at a dispensary, are different.

Although both plants are members of the cannabis family, they contain different amounts of THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis. Marijuana can contain up to thirty percent THC whereas hemp contains no more than three-tenths of a percent THC.

The experience of intaking herbs can also be very different than the intake of marijuana. Herbs can be smoked, mixed in tea, or added as an extract, depending on the needs of a person.

“Smoking herbs is really more of a quick cerebral experience… and depending on the herb, drinking herbs as a tea can be very beneficial in a lot of different ways,” Elizabeth said.

Digestive issues and urinary tract infections may benefit from drinking tea because herbs in the tea will coat the mucous membranes of the body. Lobelia can open up your lungs so it’s an herb that may be better smoked.

There are also concentrated droplets of herbal extract called tinctures.

Elizabeth said, “Extracts are going to be a lot stronger and more concentrated and have a quicker onset. You take them sublingually under your tongue so they go into your bloodstream, or you can put them in water and drink them.”

When walking into an apothecary for the first time, the staffer will often listen to what is going on, and provide personal anecdotes or historical facts about certain herbs she or he feel would help. They will not recommend a certain herb, but instead offer the consumer enough background knowledge to make their own educated decision.

As the popularity of recreational marijuana is on the rise, the popularity of plant medicine has seen an upward trend, too. However, these trends are not correlated, and the user base remains entirely different.

BERKELEY, Calif. — She was almost going to be cleaning up feces, cages and animals at the animal shelter, but instead Myisha Kemp spends her Saturday mornings at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market in Downtown Berkeley.

Myisha Kemp, 17, works for the city of Berkeley in the YouthWorks Program. The YouthWorks program is a year-round program offered by the Housing and Community Services Department that provides youth living in Berkeley with part-time paid jobs. Jobs range anywhere from Graffiti Abatement to Biotech.

Kemp spends her weekends working a booth at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market. This is her second year working for the YouthWorks Program. Last year, she had the same job heading into her senior year at Berkeley High School. This coming fall, she will be interning at the YouthWorks office while attending Berkeley Community College.

Kemp has multiple jobs at the Farmers’ Market during the summer. This includes running an info booth about eating healthy, being environmentally conscious and explaining programs that the City of Berkeley offers.

She also takes over for vendors who are in need of a break and don’t have someone else available to man their booth.

Outside of the Farmers’ Market, she helps plan events that YouthWorks is hosting and promotes YouthWorks on social media.

Along with working for the Farmers’ Market, Kemp also attends Roots of Success workshops on weekdays, which are required for her job at YouthWorks.

Roots of Success is an environmental education organization which prepares impoverished youth and adults to be part of the workforce while living environmentally-friendly lives. They do this through various educational classes including financial literacy and healthy cooking.

Kemp has also been on many trips through the Roots of Success workshop. One week ago, she was at the shoreline doing a beach clean up. Last year, she went to St. Anthony’s in San Francisco to serve meals to people who could not afford one, and her team is planning to go again this year.

The Roots of Success workshop has also changed her perspective on nutrition. By offering cooking classes, the workshop teaches students how to eat healthier while still having delicious meals.

Before attending the class, Kemp’s favorite place to eat was McDonald’s. She now enjoys cooking healthy foods and experimenting with spices.

“Next paycheck I’m excited to buy some fruits and vegetables,” Kemp said.

BERKELEY, Calif.— With fire trucks, planes, trains and over 120 songs in his repertoire, you name it and Grandpa Clyde will sing it.

Clyde Leland, known to many as Grandpa Clyde, began singing to kids around 41 years ago when his children were born. Now that he’s retired, singing has become his full time job, going to preschools, day cares, and special events.

Accompanied by children and their parents who would intermittently pass by, he sang at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market this past weekend promoting Freighter Tots: a Saturday Morning sing along for kids at the Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse.

When asked about his favorite part of his job he said, “I like it all.”

“Firetruck”, is a crowd favorite song among kids. Every so often teachers at daycare will send Grandpa Clyde videos of their kids singing the song after a visit.

Leland, originally from San Francisco, was a professor of law at University of San Francisco. Upon retiring, he turned to singing for kids full time. He now lives in Berkeley.

“All the years I taught law school, no one came up to me after class to give me a hug, and now it happens everyday,” he said.