As Women’s Month of March 2024 unfurls itself, we are focusing on the Women of Cannabis. Today, it’s all about Keiko Beatie.
Patty and Mark sat down with Keiko during the High Times Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino sometime before Covid struck, as we were filming the documentary, “Nectarball: The Story of Cannabis” in which she appears. This is her Prohibition story.
KEIKO BEATIE:
I've never had a run-in with the law where it took me away.
I don't know if you know this, but I'm Asian. People look upon them as being a little bit more conservative and intelligent, and they would never do anything like cannabis.
So I was actually in Hawaii, and my partner and I got into a car, and we only had a roach in the car, but we lit it up, and the cherry fell out. And I handed her the roach, and we hot-boxed the car. That's where you literally fill the car up with smoke.
And as I look up, I see bright lights ahead. I said, "Oh, my goodness. Is this a DUI checkpoint?" I thought, "Well, I haven't drunk anything."
But hello, the whole car is filled with smoke. "Ma'am, can you roll down the window, please?" I pushed the button. My window rolled down, and the smoke came blasting out at these gentlemen.
My partner, a lovely lady of color, then you've got the Asian here. "Ma'am, do you have something lit? You're smoking?"
"No, officer. We don't."
Because by that time, I saw in the corner of my eye. My friend actually took the roach and discreetly swallowed it. She took it for the team.
And so they're all confirming, "Ma'am, we need to see inside the car."
I said, "Yes, officer. Please go right ahead."
They took their big mag flashlights, all of them flashing in.
"Ma'am, we're going to have to do a test."
I said, "I love tests. I've never done a DUI test."
They all stood there and looked at me, dumbfounded. They just said, "That's not enough to cite them."
And I was smiling very sweetly. I said, "I'll do the test, officer."
And one of them said, "Oh, my gosh. You've got a regular Cheech and Chong here."
They think we're Cheech and Chong? At first I thought, "We're not men."
And I thought, "Okay, I got it."
Keiko Beatie Director Of Education, Outreach & Founder of Coral Cove Wellness Resort in Jamaica, focusing on Cannabis & Fungi Education for Wellness.
Keiko appears in the new documentary, “Nectarball: The Story of Cannabis.”