13 years ago I got my first internship at an ad agency and learned that cannabis is rampant in the professional world.

I got the internship through the MIZZOU alumni group, and was deathly afraid of word getting back to them if I were to fail a drug test.

So, I started smoking K2 (and similar popularized synthetic cannabinoids) for the last month of freshman year. This would also be when I was introduced to two of my oldest friends (more on that at another time).

First, the drug test never happened. 

Second, the head of the department ended up leaving for another job during my internship, and had a celebratory work happy hour where he'd share a story that confirmed my beliefs:

Smart people smoke weed. (And some of them even grow it!)

With some goading from colleagues who'd been privileged to hear the story before, this former department head laid into a tale of sneaking seeds back from Amsterdam to grow cannabis in one of the forests in the neighborhood, and this was back when pot was SUPER NOT legal.

I remember feeling all kinds of ways:

• Excitement that I wasn’t alone as a cannabis consumer in the professional world.

• Encouragement that cannabis consumers could climb the corporate ladder.

• Disappointment that I’d experimented for a couple months with knockoff weed just to find out normal weed was just fine.

In that moment, it became clear: cannabis is no longer taboo in the professional world if you are good at what you do.

And this was in 2010, mind you, when there were no recreationally legal states.

It's ok to admit you've smoked pot.

It's even ok to admit you've grown pot.

Especially these days.

(If you don’t already, I HIGHLY recommend following @Lochhead on Twitter and Category Pirates on Substack for game-changing category insights, but I digress…)

Pot helps successful people be more successful.

Just remember, you're representing all of us out there.

Go show 'em what you’ve got, tiger!

Until next time,

Ben "Pot-Smoking Professional" Owens

P.S. What have you accomplished since your first puff?

If you feel like throwing your personal story out there about what you’ve accomplished since your first date with the plant, tag me on Twitter or LinkedIn (or reply to this email with a link) so I can show some love and continue to share stories about people like you that prove Smart People Smoke Weed.🌱