The culture is multi-faceted and encompasses many disciplines including arts, food, sports and pop culture, each with its share of celebrities and thought leaders. As these characters’ lives intersect with cannabis culture, their experiences can shed light on how the plant can be integrated into the lives of others, giving new insights into the benefits and pleasures of cannabis. Riley Coot, a former National Hockey League player who now teaches yoga and advocates for a naturally healthy lifestyle including plant-based medicines, is no exception.
Cott spent four seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL. He largely filled the role of “enforcer” on the team and became an outspoken advocate for cannabis and cannabis, as well as other natural medicines. He is also a co-founder Advanced chemistry laboratories, a project jointly developed with Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, the oldest historically black college in the United States. The foundation is helping the university develop a cannabis education curriculum for its students and is building a hemp-derived cannabis lab and processing facility to serve the growing cannabis industry.
As one of its enforcers, Cott was often a part of the fights the league was known for, and sports took a heavy toll on his well-being. When he learned about the different cannabinoids, Kott says he began experimenting with THC-rich strains and high CBD varieties and tinctures to help manage some of the concussion-related issues he was dealing with.
As one of its enforcers, Cott was often a part of the fights the league was known for, and sports took a heavy toll on his well-being. When he learned about the different cannabinoids, Kott says he began experimenting with THC-rich strains and high CBD varieties and tinctures to help manage some of the concussion-related issues he was dealing with.
Rather than simply “smoking out” or taking an edible substance containing 50 to 100 milligrams of THC to get high, Kott began focusing on the medical and therapeutic benefits of cannabis. Now, he’s more inclined to take a small dose of chewing gum that contains 2.5 to 5 milligrams of THC.
“I still enjoy flowers, but I use them with a little more mindfulness and festive,” he says. “I like to have a little ritual around it.”
As his knowledge grew, Cott experimented with other natural medications, including psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, which is currently receiving wide attention as a potential treatment for mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. The journey was worth taking for Cote, who, through conscious application, said, “has been able to deal with issues with concussions and mental health issues with cannabis and psilocybin in various forms.”
Kott says he is eager to share his knowledge and his story with others. “I feel like my role in this, in one small way, is to be the bridge back to this spiritual component of this, the true essence of natural plant medicine.”
Cott remembers when he got serious about plant healing. “After retiring from the game I love at the age of 28—and leaving the last year of my one-way contract on the table—I was committed to treating myself holistically and immediately became a devoted student of the wellness world,” Founder BodyChek Wellnessa CBD company, she says.
I read a book called Hemp for health that changed my life. I began to understand the world of various non-psychotropic cannabinoids – such as CBD – as well as the world of functional mushrooms and other healing plants. I knew I wanted to be in the plant medicine field, and I started building what it could actually look like.”
This story was originally published in Issue 47 printed edition of hemp now.
