Traveling cannabis writer Veronica Castillo recently came to Simply Pure on her New Jersey State Flower Tour, reviewing dispensaries and highlighting quality brands.

When I interviewed her, she said she is a traveling cannabis writer published in about 25 industry publications.

Originally from Miami in Florida, Castillo explained she travels around the country and across the world to bring the cannabis industry and the culture together.

“I love how tight-knit this community is,” she said about Jersey.

Castillo explained she also liked the greenery and mixture of the urban North and country life in South Jersey country as well.

I noted you can’t smoke in dispensaries, which is difficult.

“None of the states are that different. You can’t consume wherever you want,” Castillo noted.

“I would love for America to look like Thailand, where you can drink and smoke your joint in the same place,” she explained.

“Alcohol and cannabis are allowed together. So I would love for America to let adults be adults,” Castillo said.

“I love Illicit. I love ButACake,” she said about NJ cannabis brands she likes.

Background and Comparing Cannabis Markets

Castillo explained her background.

“I started writing and self-publishing on Medium. And then I had a magazine reach out to me, Oklahoma Chronic and the editor told me he was a fan of my work. And he started publishing me, and I started pitching here and there,” she explained.

“I was lucky, and I had the audacity. I stayed active during COVID. That’s what really helped me,” Castillo added.

I noted Oklahoma news of the cowboys of medical cannabis makes for good Wild West stories despite a crackdown.

“It’s almost like the Wild West everywhere in this industry,” Castillo replied. “This industry is interesting.”

“That’s the catch about Jersey. Do we like cowboy movies, or do we, you know, like, Goodfellas, The Godfather, Scarface type movies for our metaphors and the nature of life and things like that,” I explained.

Featured Profile Writer

Castillo noted she focuses on writing Featured Profiles versus the more breaking news style of Heady NJ.

“I like to tell people’s stories. I like to sit down with the people who were in cannabis and growing cannabis and helping get cannabis out to the community before legalization and before cannabis became mainstream cool,” she explained. “I like to sit with them in their homes and their farms and whenever the plant is growing to tell the stories.”

Castillo noted she had a background as an insurance adjustor and corporate blogging before pivoting to cannabis.

“I didn’t smoke cannabis back then, but I should have,” she joked.

“On the Farm is always where it’s at for me. Being with the plant. Seeing where they grow, seeing that,” Castillo said regarding profile highlights.

Her second coolest experience was spending time at a legal cannabis-friendly Bed and Breakfast.

“I’ve been to a lot of de facto places like that. They might not have known about it, you see,” I joked.

Castillo said she also liked great events and parties where people could try good samples.

In addition to Simply Pure dispensary, she planned to visit Atlantic City, Releaf dispensary in Williamstown in South Jersey, and Cannavibes dispensary in Carlstadt in North Jersey.

Garden Society Featured

Garden Society Sales Manager Leena Trinidad was there as well for the tour.

I explained I had enjoyed Garden Society gummies in the past.

Trinidad noted the Garden Society has joints as well as gummies now for sale.

In addition to Garden Society, she said she works with the THC Girls, a woman-owned marketing agency, and the Highly Connected app.

Trinidad explained she was previously a middle school math teacher in Camden and considers herself primarily an Educator. She said she was inspired by Simply Pure CEO Wanda James, who spoke at a Black Cannabis conference in New Orleans to get into the business.

“I was there for repping insurance at the time,” she noted. “She just said do what you do. Everything the cannabis industry needs, it needs everything every other industry.”

Trinidad noted she previously worked for the infused chocolate maker Inclusion Gourmet Jersey Canna as a Brand Ambassador.*

She explained she previously lived in West Palm Beach and was a medical cannabis patient in Florida.

“Down there, it’s more medical. It’s more like a pharmacy. There’s no culture. There’s no community,” Trinidad noted.

“They’re all very corporate there to say the least,” I noted.