East Fork Cultivars’ Balance utilizes sun-ripened Nice Tsunami, a hybrid strain. It’s the thoughtfully slight 3.9% THC juxtaposed with 12% CBD that gives this 0.5g pre-roll its namesake harmony. The flash of THC afforded a modest psychoactive boost that propelled the CBD from soothing clarity to jazzy creativity, feathering the effects for a pacifying landscape that was at once inspiring and calming. The perfume, the inhale, and the exhale were all earthy, with the citrusy twang of freshly cut grass. The smoke was rich without being too heavy, making for a smooth, comfortable drag that filled the chest without phlegmy agitation.

I auditioned this pre-roll first thing in the morning with the intent of maximizing the CBD’s clarifying effects and getting the most out of my day. The immediate effect was a refreshing splash of cold water on my face; it cleared the sleepy fuzz from my periphery, slapping me awake with a cool, satin hand. I’m not one for getting slapped around or splashed with cold water, but this was sublime and so much better than a shot of espresso. Instead of my usual pre-coffee sluggish malaise and my post-coffee electric apathy, I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, eager to own the day. Look, I hate mornings. It’s one of the primary reasons I’m a writer and not your mom’s secretary, but a few hits from this CBD-forward pre-roll had me singing Good Morning Starshine before I’d even put real pants on. That is nothing short of a miracle.

“The few hours of my day this pre-roll affected were bubbling with productivity and focus.”

The few hours of my day this pre-roll affected were bubbling with productivity and focus; but it was the delightfully sheer psychotropic high—as ephemeral as the lingering steam from a hot cup of tea—that made this experience so commendable. I have no issues with being a bumbling stoner in public, but it’s just as satisfying for those stoney effects to be my little secret instead of a billboard I project between my two bloodshot eyes.

On my second round of testing East Fork Cultivars’ Balance Pre-Roll, I decided to turn the volume up on the THC, so to speak, by affording the joint an epilogue of modest hits of my own homegrown sativa hybrid. The two strains were completely complimentary, the buzzy sativa gave me the chest-swelling THC high I love so much, while the CBD grounded me and kept the head high crystal clear. It was a combination that brought out the best of two forms of cannabis that typically stand on their own.

Hey, I appreciate getting crippled by weed every once in a while, but I am more attracted to the products that seem to support my cognition, energize me, and quiet my messy, anxious, frightened inner monologue. Neither THC or CBD alone can perform this feat, only the sum of their parts can get me there. East Fork Cultivars’ Balance joint has the stoney afterburn that made me love weed in the first place, the therapeutic CBD to ground that high in my very adult reality, and the price point ($8) that jibes with both my adolescent inner stoner and my grown-ass, budget-minded self.