Editor’s Note: Welcome to one of our newest bi-weekly columns, High Folks: the cannabis-infused version of Humans of New York, in which we take an intimate look at people’s relationships with our most beloved plant. The connection between humans and cannabis is primal, dynamic, and profound. But it’s something that’s increasingly overlooked in the new age of weed. So in an effort to combat the superficiality of cannabis in the social media-age, High Times is proud to present to you a collection of work that highlights one of life’s most beautiful gifts: connection.
What was the first thing you did when you bought your first pack of Backwoods? I went on YouTube to try and understand the mysterious art of rolling the perfect blunt. I immediately clicked on the first video I saw, and on the other side of my computer screen sat Dope as Yola. Though he had never rolled a Backwoods and he doesn’t exclusively use blunts, Dope as Yola promised to still be a valuable resource for novice blunt rollers like myself.
Thomas Araujo, better known as Dope as Yola to cannabis enthusiasts across the internet, has been creating weed content for YouTube for 6 years. Araujo sits on the other side of our screens reminding be comfortable with marijuana’s playful nature.
“I [used to think] ‘Oh my God, you smoke weed? You’re a drug addict,’” Araujo told High Times. “Because at school that’s all they taught us.”
Though he had fallen under the spell of America’s DARE program, Araujo still wanted to know what it felt like to get high. So in 2003 at the age of 13-years-old, Araujo smoked his first bowl out of a Mountain Dew can while binge-watching MAD TV with his older sister.
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Author: Lyneisha Watson / High Times
