Julia Jacobson has suffered migraines for years, with one lasting as long as eight days. In 2016, she had a migraine to top all migraines—it lasted six months and came with vomiting and dehydration that landed her in the hospital on three separate occasions.
“I’ll never forget the day it began—September 22,” she shared. “It messed with my vision; I saw spots and auras. At times I couldn’t see at all,” she shared. “I was prescribed antidepressants and high blood pressure medications. Some of the meds they gave me had me dropping things, bumping into furniture.”
She was prescribed myriad medications, including Lidocaine shots and steroids. Jacobson said one of the meds, Imitrex, was so intense and had such severe side effects that the prescription was limited to two pills in a 24 hour period, with two doses in a two week period. She tried migraine glasses and had visits to an acupuncturist and chiropractor to no avail.
“I just had a big mess of side effects and nothing worked,” she added. “My husband and I were thinking of having kids, and you can’t be on some of these medications while pregnant.”
Jacobson began using Prana transdermal roll-on 3-1 and Mary’s Medicinals CBD/THC patches. She also found a certain cultivar to be more helpful than others.
“White Buffalo is high in CBG, which they’ve discovered is a vascular dilator for blood vessels in the brain – it protects neurons,” she explained. “I also use Protab, a high CBG tablet made by Level.”
CBG is also effective in repairing neurological damage, according to a study titled “Neuroprotective Properties of Cannabigerol in Huntington’s Disease,” published in the journal Neurotherapeutics.
From Bloomies to Bud
Jacobson was born in Chicago and attended college on the East Coast, majoring in Comparative Literature. She moved to New York as a young woman and spent four years as a buyer for Bloomingdale’s department store.
Today, she’s traded Bloomies for bud, making her home in her husband Sam’s hometown of Oakland, California.
Her husband’s lineage in cannabis dates back to his grandparents, who moved to Mendocino County 50 years ago to grow cannabis. His parents grew up in the once covert industry, working as trimmers while Sam slept in a crib nearby.
Mendocino is part of the infamous Emerald Triangle, including Humboldt and Trinity, where some of the finest cannabis in the world has been hybridized, perfected, and grown for as many years.
Aster Farms sits on 80 acres in Lake County, just south of Humboldt. Not technically part of the Emerald Triangle, Lake County is the step-child of the trinity, but is still a viable source of cannabis in California.
“We named the farm after the aster flower, for its 23,000 species, as cannabis is just as prolific,” she shared. “We use fish tea, high in nutrients, that we make ourselves. Our cultivars are sourced from our neighbors in Mendocino.”
Currently, the couple grow three core cultivars, Maui OG, Durban Poison, and Sour Maui, with all organic inputs, grown in the sun.
“All of our cultivars are old school—what you smoked in the 70s,” she added. “The farm will launch tincture production later this year, promising approximately 8,000 bottles, with additional terpenes added. Chamomile to calm, limonene to stimulate, and pinene, an anti-inflammatory compound.”
But the farm’s Maui OG is a favorite stand-out.
“It’s a beautiful, classic purple,” she said. “It gives energy, creativity—very uplifting. I’m really digging this high—it’s super balanced and joyful. It’s our best cultivar, by far.”
Farmer’s Stash
Julia’s stash is a simple one, with a worn wooden cigar box gifted to her from a fellow farmer. Inside are jars of Aster Farms Deep Sour Kush, and Maui OG, with an Aster Farms Day to Night Pre-Roll pack.
The grinder is made by SharpStone, with a Lue brass spoon nearby in a small brass dish holding ground Aster Farms Strawberry Banana flower.
To treat her chronic migraines, she uses White Buffalo flower, high in CBG, Level CBD Tablinguals, used prophylactically; and Level CBG Protab, used at first signs of a migraine aura.
She also uses Prana P1 THC Transdermal Aromatherapy Roll-on, used for migraine attacks on pain areas, if stemming from her temples, forehead, ocular areas, or neck.
An after work wind-down includes a sunset cultivar to take the edge off.
“I’m a purist when it comes to flower, and prefer to consume full spectrum flower with a PAX 2 vape,” she explained. “I enjoy our own Deep Sour Kush for those moments.”
Lastly, her travel kit, via a leather pouch made by her brother-in-law, contains PAX 2 cleaning supplies, including a pipe cleaner and a low-tech paper clip, the Lue brass spoon, RAW papers, a Bic lighter, ice water hash of Strawberry Banana in an infused pre-roll, and a tube of pre-ground Maui OG.
“I’ve found that the cultivars high in the compound CBG helps the most, while Durban Poison can trigger a migraine—so I avoid it,” she surmised. “White Buffalo with really high THC helps because it knocks me out and I’m able to fall asleep—and that resets the migraine.”
When the patient becomes a farmer, and the farm becomes her life, her stash takes on new meaning, concluding, “Cannabis has given me a safe alternative to take back my life!”
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