Buck Angel on Identity, Sobriety & Cannabis as Medicine
“I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California in the '60s and '70s. When I think back on my childhood I can tell you that it was awesome. Some people reading this might not know that I am a transsexual man, so growing up I was still female but felt like a boy. My parents were super generous with letting me be that boy. They called me the boy name, let me wear boys' clothes and this was pretty progressive for those times. They used to call it being a tomboy.”
Buck Angel
The '70s are still my favorite time. I remember the pot-smoking hippies across the street and how I loved hanging out with them. They were always so cool and laid back. My mom who get upset at me being over there because I was too young, but on some level, they really shaped a way I think today. Which is to enjoy life. That is what I saw from them that they loved life!
Eventually, I had to grow up and puberty hit, that was the beginning of hell on earth for me. I hated life so much. My body betrayed me and started looking female. I grew boobs and started my period!! But how could that be I thought, I am a man not a woman. From there my addiction to alcohol and drugs started. We used to take these speed pills called black beauties! OMG I just became a nightmare. It was all downhill from there. Suicide attempts, Psychiatric wards, cutting myself, and just plain checking out of life.
“I have so many things to tell you from my days as a model in Europe to homeless crack addiction and prostitution to stay alive. These things, these horrible things actually shaped me to become this person. Eventually I had the chance to be saved and get sober.”
Buck Angel. Photo Credit: Candid Chronicle
I did not graduate high school. I was lost. How I survived those years after high school is a blur. I have so many things to tell you from my days as a model in Europe to homeless crack addiction and prostitution to stay alive. These things, these horrible things actually shaped me to become this person. Eventually I had the chance to be saved and get sober. Through sobriety I learned about this thing called transsexual and having a sex change. This was before the internet and so finding any help was almost impossible. But I had a therapist who saw my pain and struggle.
Eventually I had the opportunity to become a man through medical intervention. Both my hormone doctor and my top surgeon had never worked with a female to male transsexual like me. They called me their guinea pig. I became a real experiment.
My sobriety helped me become a man. It has saved my life. But with this newfound life came anxiety, depression, and insomnia. As a sober person I do not like pharmaceutical drugs and hated taking sleeping pills. I was introduced to cannabis as an alternative medication and WOW! It changed my life.
“The biggest challenge was coming out as a cannabis user in my sobriety. I really found that empowering…I feel so proud to help others see the benefits of cannabis as a medication.“
Buck Angel
The biggest challenge was coming out as a cannabis user in my sobriety. I really found that empowering. So many people emailed me to say how they are also sober using cannabis but do not feel they can be so open about it. This is when I knew how powerful it would be to come out of the closet and help others become comfortable with finding their own space in sobriety while using cannabis. I feel so proud to help others see the benefits of cannabis as a medication. It changes people's lives for the better.
My business partner in my cannabis brand Pride Wellness is Leon Mostovoy who is also a transsexual man, and before we started the business my dog was having really bad seizures! If you have ever seen a dog have seizures it's actually insane and scary. Leon introduced me to CBD and my dog was coming out of the seizures in seconds. I was hooked on this as a natural medication after seeing that.
So Leon and I decided to start our company. I had already been using cannabis for my insomnia but was not actively announcing it because of the stigma and my sobriety. I was scared people would say I was not sober anymore, But then I realized I was not being honest about my lifestyle and medication. That is not in my character or activism so I decided to go public as a sober person who uses cannabis.
Pride Wellness “Inspire” Cannabis
“I had already been using cannabis for my insomnia but was not actively announcing it because of the stigma and my sobriety. I was scared people would say I was not sober anymore…I decided to go public as a sober person who uses cannabis.”
That along with my dog and the CBD I knew there was a whole group of people being left out and that being my LGBTQ community. Leon and I knew the power of this medicine but we also knew the history of legalization of cannabis through HIV/AIDS with the drug Marinol. Our community, most notably Dennis Peron who coauthored Prop 215 in California, has been on the cutting edge of legalization and we wanted our community to benefit as well. It is really important for Leon and me that we keep our community in jobs and creating space for this new frontier.
“I have been a part of my LGBTQ community for many years and have seen the devastation that drug usage has done. I also see the damage it has done to the POC community and how they have been hit so hard with the insane drug politics of our country.”
Legalization and Social equity are probably the most important part of drug policy for me. Because I work in a marginalized community already with my human rights advocacy it just naturally parlayed into my cannabis activism. I have been a part of my LGBTQ community for many years and have seen the devastation that drug usage has done. I also see the damage it has done to the POC community and how they have been hit so hard with the insane drug politics of our country. We as cannabis advocates have to make sure all people get a chance to be a part of this growing and amazing industry. I do not see that. I am seeing so much greed coming to that it scares me and we need to really not forget the history of this medicine and beautiful plant. I have been so gifted in the new life that I believe in giving back and this is really important to my mission in the cannabis space. Awareness of the people who need to be a part of this growing industry and have a fair share of the wealth. It will help so many people.
So many people just loved that we created Pride Wellness. Many in the cannabis industry just really supported our voices and saw what we were doing. I have to say one of the early companies that really came to our rescue was Greenstone. They became our manufacturer and distributor early in the game. They saw the importance of LGBTQ cannabis. So many publications have done interviews with us thus becoming allies. I feel so supported by this industry it's crazy. All of these publications really mentored us and helped us find our space.
My Dad once told me "People will judge you by the company you keep" and he said that when I was in high school because I was running with a bad crowd and getting into a lot of trouble. They were doing nothing for me but dragging me down with them. Of course, as a 16-year-old you never listen to your parents! But today I think of this and I see what my Dad was saying. Today I surround myself with likeminded people who want to change the world. To make a place where plant medicine will become a leader. All of my friends have this in mind and a goal to make it happen. I wish I listened to my dad back in the day I might have actually graduated high school. But here I stand in a place I have been gifted.
About Buck Angel:
Buck Angel’s message of empowerment through self-acceptance and encouragement of everyone to be comfortable in their own skin has struck a passionate chord with people around the world. As he demonstrated in recent appearances at Yale, Cornell and many other universities and events, Buck inspires people to think outside the box and is educating an entire generation on the fluidity of sexuality and identity politics.
About Pride Wellness:
Created with the LGBTQ community in mind, Pride Wellness products are created to help individuals suffering from anxiety, depression, back pain, headaches, sleep patterns, and other issues prevalent in the LGBT community and with the public.
Soft-launched in 2017, Pride Wellness’s mission is to provide, create, and promote natural alternatives to prescribed narcotics in support of community health and well-being. Developed by a chemist that specializes in cannabis treatments, Pride Wellness offers three core products: The Transformation, Bucks Balm Topical, and Legacy Vape Pen Cartridges.