Written By: Lisa Marie
In honor of 710 Day, Raquel’s Room is highlighting our favorite concentrate connoisseur, Queenee Da Kritic. Queenee is the innovative creator of the concentrate education series, A Dabber is Born. She’s a chronic illness warrior, outspoken advocate for neurodivergent acceptance, and a proud cannaparent.
Driven by her desire to educate and a mission to promote healing, Queenee serves her community with an open heart and a fearless spirit. Her energy is infectious. Her confidence is inspiring. And her expertise and attention to detail will make even the least experienced consumer feel safe and seen. (I should know, since Queenee became my official Dab Mother at the 2024 Buy Her Flowers event hosted by Raquel’s Room.)
Here at Raquel’s Room, we are 💜obsessed💜 with Queenee. Read on to learn why you need to join us in her Queendom👑
1. What led you to explore concentrates and dabbing?
Back in 2015, I had what I thought was a UTI. And then that UTI turned out to be Stage 4 Endometriosis. So after three years of not being able to urinate normally, because I had the endometrium in the bladder, my doctors had me using 16 pills and a low dose fentanyl patch. I started smoking blunts and the blunts were helping, but they were only about 30% effective for pain management.
After smoking a blunt, I'd feel some relief with the head high, but I was still in a lot of pain. I could still feel that my bladder was really contracting. And so I remember being on an Instagram live ripping a bong and talking about the bladder pain. One of the homies out in Washington state, Doc Calyx, said to me, “Have you ever tried dabbing?” And I was like, “No, what's dabbing?” Doc said, “It’s basically plant medicine, but in concentrated form.”
Doc explained the whole process of creating cannabis concentrates to me, starting with the washing of the plant. Then. I reached out to my local plug from Cali because I didn't have one here in New York. No one that I knew was dabbing or using concentrates. Everybody at the sessions was smoking flower.
For me, anything that has to do with the plant, I consider holistic. I have never attached anything related to the plant with anything negative. It's always been positive.
Doc Calyx walked me through the first steps of the dabbing process. He told me to buy a Lookah Seahorse and a gram of concentrate. Then I got my first Hemper subscription box. I used the nail that comes with the rig in the box.
Next, I grabbed this plumber's torch which I still have. I heated up the banger. It was probably 800 degrees. The nail was actually red. Then I put the WHOLE GRAM OF CONCENTRATE into the banger. When I tell you, that banger was BLACK!
And I hit it. I honestly thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room because it felt like I burnt a layer of my lungs. I have 25 years of clinical experience of working in pulmonary care, so I know a lot about how heat and carcinogens can affect lung health.
With that first dab, I got very paranoid. But I believe in the midst of other things happening, one of the biggest reasons I created Queenee was the fact that even though I burnt my lungs, I finally found pain relief. Having endometriosis with interstitial cystitis, I was experiencing the type of pain where my husband would have to fill the tub with hot water so I could sit in it just to empty my bladder. This was happening at least seven or eight times a day. Interstitial cystitis is such a horrible bladder disease because it’s like having one huge ulcer. Any time liquid hits that ulcer, you can't even function.
Dabbing was the first form of consumption that made me feel like there was hope with managing my endometriosis. From then on, I continued to dab. I started to follow people on Instagram like @AbsolutelyBon, @Hollywood710, @DocCalyx, and I started to just learn.
And then I scraped up money that I didn't think I even had, and I flew out to Cali for 11 days. Out there, I learned how to dab out with some of my West Coast friends. By the night before I left L.A., I was able to light up a whole dab bar, and serve dabs on the beach to my friends at 2 a.m.
Once I came home to New York after that Cali trip, that was it. I traded in my bong for a rig. I traded in a lighter for a torch, and I traded in flower for concentrate. And the rest is herstory, you know what I mean?
2. After spending many years in a career in the healthcare field, you evolved into the version of Queenee that we know today. What made you start the Queenee persona and brand?
One of the things I pride myself on as a registered medical assistant was the fact that I can treat the CEO with the same respect that I could treat the janitor and vice versa. The reality is when you work in any hospital setting or in any essential worker setting, you know that you're never working alone.
You are always a part of a team. A hospital cannot run on one person alone. Everybody plays a vital role in every situation. You need housekeeping, you need engineering, you need facilities, you need the CEO. You need everybody to save lives.
Endometriosis robbed me of my 25 years of selfless service. It stopped me from getting my own department. It prevented me from getting my masters because I had to drop out of school to manage my pain. I never thought there'd be anything comparable to my work in health care until I realized that dabbing saved my life. Dabbing helped me manage a pain that would have surely led me down a road to suicide. My purpose shifted from helping patients that came into the ER to patients that come into a sesh and want to know how they can manage their pain. They come to me to learn how they can take control of their health.
And it taught me that I was ready for the battle all along. So being a medical assistant and being Queenee are really one in the same. If I threw a badge, scrubs and my stethoscope on, I could still go serve dabs!
3. As someone who was diagnosed with ADHD and ASD, you have been an advocate in the cannabis community for neurodivergent people. How has consuming concentrates helped you navigate the world as a person with autism and ADHD?
I think that when you get into terpene profiling you can really learn how to manage your ADHD and your neurodivergent ways with dabbing. I think that high levels of THC, especially if you have a high THC with a nice CBD balance, can give a full spectrum effect which can help control your brain. I've seen people who can't sit still, sit still for 20 minutes after a dab because they used the right terp profile. Or I've seen people who may have been sitting at an event nervous and anxious and kind of going through the motions take a dab and feel more social. It depends on what we are serving and knowing that not everybody responds to a dab the same way, right? Just like people are all different, dabs are all different. Education is important because what may work for me and calm me down may overstimulate and overwhelm somebody else's endocannabinoid system.
I’m not a hash maker, nor do I know everything about dabs. But what I do know is that plant medicine is the only thing that helped to manage my autism and my ADHD. My son is a medicinal patient and card holder. He was taken off his traditional medications. Now he can use his card to receive his medications from “the pharmacy,” which is the word we use in my family instead of “dispensary.” Along with the pharmacy, we decide what works well for him. Now I have a kid that went from being almost catatonic on medication to someone who now has ambition, drive, and movement. He can express his feelings and thoughts. I don't know of more of a success story, honestly, than what the plant has done to improve our lives. It has helped my son and I both physically and mentally.
4. You have talked about consuming concentrates as a way to mitigate the pain caused by conditions like endometriosis and fibromyalgia. How are concentrates different from traditional meds for managing chronic conditions?
I believe that when you use a full spectrum approach, the THC just activates the endocannabinoid system and does things to the body that traditional medication doesn't do. If you take a nice balanced THC and CBN, you're going to get a good night's sleep. You don't need melatonin. Or if you take a nice sativa and pair it with CBG in the morning, you’ll have a day full of focus.
I think that traditional medication targets one problem. But the reality is that as a person, we are made up of different problems. Think about this: you need two different medications to treat a UTI. You need antibiotics first to kill the bacteria. But then it kills too much bacteria. So now you need an antifungal to prevent a yeast infection since the antibiotic killed the good bacteria along with the infection.
Or you can use plant medicine and natural substances in the form of a suppository made by adding CBD or some tea tree oil to a tampon. With plant medicine, you're not dealing with all the side effects of pharmaceuticals. We have so many women in this community that heal in ways like that. Personally, I've tried THC and CBD suppositories. They worked wonders for endometriosis.
Dabbing has a higher level of THC than flower, but flower and concentrates both have an effect on the body that you will never be able to achieve with a traditional pill simply because of the genetics used by the cultivators. You know, many things can be tailored to an illness and the person with the illness by the growers– how and where the plants are grown, and what terpenes are included. Traditional medicines made by “big pharma” are tailored only to the illness. According to “Big Pharma,” a condition like Type 2 Diabetes requires the same treatment for every patient. But to a grower, a healer, or an herbalist, illnesses look different for everyone, and the treatment should match the needs of each person.
5. In addition to being an entrepreneur and an educator, you are also a proud parent to 3 young men. How has consuming medicinal cannabis made a positive impact on your parenting style?
Even before I started dabbing and I was just smoking the plant, I was able to calm my thoughts, calm my brain, and address my traumas. I could think before I spoke. Being able to do all those things while medicating made me a better mom. It offered space and safety and love to my children.
But my children have never seen me smoke a blunt and then sit on the couch and do nothing.
If I do smoke a blunt or take a dab, my children will see me get up out of bed and function to get shit done without pain. The worst part is, CPS will never come knock on your door if you're on Vicodin, Fentanyl, Lyrica, Gabapentin, or Prozac. But they will come to your door when a volatile family member calls and decides to report you. Then, they’ll pull up to a house where there is nothing but love and food and good vibes and positivity. But they're expecting to see a crack house. And part of breaking the stigma for me is showing that even as a dabber, even with a plumber's torch, we're still compassionate, intelligent, driven people. We're still amazing and capable parents.
If anything, it allows us to actually function. When I was on traditional medication, I was catatonic in the corner of a room at home. Anybody that has had to take Klonopin will understand exactly what I am talking about. THAT was unhealthy for my children. Taking a dab, putting on music, dancing with my kids in the middle of the living room, making them food, or taking them out for a walk with the dog was not.
I hid my consumption from my children for such a long time. I always smoked outside. But there were times when my kids would be like, “What's that smell?” Back then, I would dread their friends coming over because I knew I would need to medicate but couldn't, because I didn't want those kids going home and telling their parents anything negative.
A mom of one of my son’s friends still doesn't want them to come over because she found me on Instagram. Now she knows what I do. So I've had to put my best foot forward as Queenee, as a Cannamom, and a med card holder, simply because I need people to see it for what it really is.
I can't have any more babies, but if I was able to have another baby, I would turn to the plant before I would ever take Zofran or Phenergan. I would turn to the plant before any traditional pills that you're allowed to take while you're pregnant because there are more side effects with pills. So I think that being a cannaparent is a blessing. I think that as long as you’ve got your shit straight at home and you're doing what you need to do, it's nobody's business how you manage your stress. I will tell you in 25 years of working in health care, I have never seen a cannaparent abuse a child. I have reported many alcoholic parents. I have reported many substance abuse users to CPS. I have had to witness a lot of that same drug addiction and abuse on myself and my family members. But I've never been abused by a “stoner.”
Not that it can’t ever happen, but that was not my experience. Most of my abuse came from substance abuse and alcoholism in my family. My family judged the people they viewed as “stoners” even though they were doing things that would have made Jesus cry. So yeah, I give kudos to cannaparents and to those who do things the way they want, and the way that works best for their families. I think we're dope parents, no pun intended.
6. In 2023, you created A Dabber Is Born, a series of educational workshops designed to teach people about the benefits of consuming concentrates. How did this idea come to life?
A Dabber is Born comes from my passion for giving someone their first dab. When I host an event, I feel like I am birthing a new experience for someone, especially on a medicinal level. A Dabber is Born is an educational series that is going to take the entire community through all aspects of the dabbing journey.
My intention for A Dabber is Born is not only to educate our community, but also to educate new budtenders and legal dispensary operators in the rec market in New York. With the knowledge I share at A Dabber Is Born, new budtenders will be able to easily answer questions about different types of concentrates, how to properly store them, and how temperatures impact the experience for the consumers.
7. What is a myth about dabbing that you would like to bust?
Some people think that dabbing is smoking crack. They see the torch, the glass, or the heating element and they think that dabbers are freebasing or using crack. We really need to destigmatize plant medicine consumption in all forms. When we talk about rescheduling and descheduling, I think we need to start by not being judgmental and labeling the different ways we consume cannabis. That should be a part of our community. We should accept how people choose to consume and medicate with the plant. If the stigma within the community itself goes away, we could work more on empowering people outside of the community to stop associating dabs with negativity.
8. What’s the most crucial piece of advice you have for first time dabbers?
Only take a dab from an educated person. And with that, I'm talking about sanitation. I'm talking about temperature gauging. I'm talking about knowing where and what types of concentrates they're serving, where it was sourced from, and who extracted it. I mean a dab tender with actual education. I want you as the consumer to see the alcohol swabs. I want you to see your dab tender swab the mouthpiece. I want you to see them use a tool like a terpometer.
I want your first time to go so beautifully that you want to take a second dab before you leave the event. I never want to see anyone coughing, gagging, taking extremely hot dabs, or taking dabs from mouthpieces that haven't been properly cleaned.
People should know that if there's a little bit of water left in a dab, continuing to inhale would cause water to go into your lungs. New dabbers should feel comfortable knowing that the dab tender is considering health and safety over the profits they could make if you attend their sesh.
9. What are some of your favorite concentrate strains right now?
Modified Grapes is a cross between GMO and Purple Punch. The more dominant terpene is limonene followed by carophyllene and pinene. Limonene and pinene have anti-inflammatory properties and may be helpful for coping with certain gastrointestinal problems. Caryophyllene has antiviral, antimicrobial, and antidepressant properties. It is also found to promote pain relief by activating the body's CB1 receptors, which influences pain perception.
This strain helps me manage pain, depression, and insomnia.
10. How can we stay up to date with all things Queenee?
Instagram:
Email: management@raquelsroom.com