Gordon / Verna
Gordon Rutledge how are you? I haven’t spoken with you in more than a minute! I heard you moved to Oregon but couldn’t imagine what motivated such a midlife change of scenery. I, Dr. Verna Gibbs, can only say…… it’s not California (which has been good to me since 1979). So, what’s going on?
Listen to the unedited full interview
In a nutshell: after a 30+ year career as a trader on Wall Street, being married for 27 years and raising four children, Gordon retired, divorced and moved to Sag Harbor, N.Y. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer around the same time that he met a medical marijuana grower from Oregon. Without surgery, his cancer has been in remission for five years! While he can’t make any medical claims, the 5/2 CBD/THC ratio strains he’s been growing haven’t seemed to hurt. So that midlife scenery change to become a farmer wasn’t a bad idea.
Gordon and Verna jumped on a call back in May 2021 to update the life of Gordon. They discussed the domain of growing, extracting, smoking, selling and enjoying legal recreational and medical cannabis. They spoke about the current federal vs state regulatory statutes and the challenges/opportunities those present for industry participants. They explored Gordon’s personal journey which began after graduation when he went to Jamaica to teach high school English in Lucea. He moved on to a career trading oil on the floor at NYMEX. Then he went from a seemingly bucolic retired life in the Hamptons, spiced with Samba drumming on Sagg Main beach to living in “Go Ducks” Eugene. There he bought an abandoned 10acre orchard and started running an indoor marijuana grow-op with his old business trading partner. Like maraschino cherries on a munchie-relief banana split, they top off the call with some advice for those novices or long-ago-used users, who might want to try MJ as local legal markets open-up.
Akhi Lloyd says “it is a true high that causes great humility” and time passes quickly when you’re high so .…. come listen in on this Cannabis Conversation.