Class is in session. Here’s the Good Grades review of Eaton Botanicals new Gal Pal and Daily Elevation edibles!
Every week, Leafly and Good Grades Dispensary in Queens, New York partner to review a new product from the licensed market. This week, budtender Melody is reviewing the Gal Pal (Watermelon) and Daily Elevation (peach) flavors of Eaton Botanical’s 5 mg gummies (1:1 THC/CBD) (Hybrid).
Good Grades is Queens, NY’s first woman-owned dispensary. Follow Good Grades on Leafly for more products and reviews.
Gal Pal (Watermelon) by Eaton Botanicals
Gal Pal gummies by Eaton Botanicals are made to be a lady’s best friend anytime of the month with soothing herbs and a slight kick of THC and CBD.
“Ladies these are your new best friend for anytime of the month. Infused with CBD and magnolia bark extract, chasteberry, vitamin B6. I feel like the components in here also help with bloodflow, and relief from inflammation. Even if you’re not on your period, it’s a good experience. And you still get that buzz from the 5 mg dosage of THC.
Daily Elevation (Peach) by Eaton Botanicals
Daily Elevation (Peach) by Eaton Botanicals
“I feel like this is similar to a sativa strain. It has 280 mg of Cordyceps, which is a mushroom extract that’s not psychedelic. The benefits are giving energy, elevation, and motivation to start your day!”
Watch the full Good Grades Weekly Report Card on Instagram:
Pushing Pluto by the brand To The Moon—sold at Cookies‘ Culture House NYC—is an outrageously special strain. This strain is tricky in a very good way, and that’s what makes it wonderful. This Pushing Pluto strain is the best-smelling strain I’ve got this year! My first time opening the package, the most beautiful scent of berries, grapes, and cream filled the air and the room. The scent was so beautiful, it was like listening to Lucie in the band Poise sing magically. Heavenly.
The crystallization on this strain is next level, it’ll be all over your fingers! The resin on Pushing Pluto should be in the Guinness Book.
Now the fun, tricky part. On my first hit a powerful, skunky, zesty favor reveals itself, then it’s very floral with hints of berries and a sweet, candy aftertaste. The scent when you first smoke it is very different, but it’s still beautiful to enjoy.
Pushing Pluto delivers a head high that has a balanced, very unique, clear, focused feel. It’s holiday weed for music and socializing. The body high is very good. Not too strong, but the soothing relaxation it brings is very enjoyable! This is a prefect strain for a fun day or night! You can’t go wrong with this.—Lord Figo
90-94 Outstanding: a cannabis product of superior character and style
85-89 Very good: a weed with special qualities
80-84 Good: a solid, well-made weed
75-79 Mediocre: a smokeable weed that may have minor flaws
50-74 Not recommended
How we rate
Dried, cured, packaged, and sold buds, reviewed from bag in tastings, are given a single score. We focus on aroma, taste, effect, look, pedigree, cultivation method, and more. Special Designations Our editors focus on excellent, widely available ganja at a reasonable price. Special qualities include:
Top-shelf: It ain’t cheap, or necessarily plentiful, but it’s really good. Welcome to the top shelf. Smart Buys: Fine, affordable, broadly available pot.
Leafly News cannabis ratings and ethics
Leafly News aims to retain and expand its expertise, authority, and trust.
Expertise is built through years of reviews, interviews with growers, visits to weed regions, and accumulated knowledge about cannabis horticulture, flavors, history, and culture. Leafly News’ editors and freelancers have a combined 50 years of experience with cannabis. We aim to be accurate and independent, with policies including:
Actual tastings—If we didn’t smoke it, we’re not reviewing it. At Leafly Ratings, all ratings come from multiple tastings.
Independence—Leafly expert reviewers are paid by Leafly and are independent. We accept review samples with no promise of coverage. Leafly rating staff cannot accept bribes. We generally pay our own expenses and report on what the readers want to see.
This budding dispensary in Pelham Bay is expanding delivery access with free orders across the Bronx and southern Westchester County. Don’t miss out.
In April, House of Hibernica became the ninth Bronx dispensary to open its doors. In just six months, Hibernica has become a neighborhood favorite. Now all this month, the store is expanding access to legal cannabis with free deliveries across the Bronx.
Hibernica’s community events cater to the local neighborhood’s tastes, including watch parties to celebrate local sports teams like the Knicks and Yankees. This summer, Hibernica offered a free car wash with every purchase over $50 on Saturdays.
This summer, droves of new customers discovered the Hibernica after unlicensed shops nearby were shut down. With Halloween around the corner, and the Yankees and Mets surging, House of Hibernica is inviting all Bronx-bud lovers to place a free delivery order this October, or to come visit in person.
Staying close to the plant
To avoid any confusion with unlicensed shops, Hibernica’s storefront clearly reads: Licensed Dispensary. (House of Hibernica)
House of Hibernica Inventory manager Chris Ortiz told the Bronx Times, “It feels like a dream job. My wife asks me how was work and I say work was great. I love my job. You have become part of the community. You’re no longer their dealer. You’re a business man.”
Hibernica’s General Manager Bojan Trpcevski told Leafly, “The first time I used cannabis was in my early 20s. At that time, it was a bad thing where I was from in Macedonia. Over there, you still have to look over your shoulder when you light a joint. It used to be that you would go to jail for a joint.” In 2016, Macedonia legalized medical marijuana. By then, Trpcevski was working in the hospitality industry in New York.
3220 Westchester Ave, Bronx, NY — recreational
5(31)
“When COVID happened, everything with the restaurants stopped.” he told Leafly. “So we had an idea to get involved in the cannabis industry. We knew the basics, but I wanted to see the whole thing. So I went to Humboldt County in California and got familiar with the whole process. From the seed, the whole plant, to how it’s grown. Then the restaurants reopened after COVID and we continued doing that. When we heard it was going to be legalized, the opportunity came up to get into that business.”
When Trpcevski’s dad got cancer, he urged his father to try the plant. Trpcevski said, “While my father was going through the therapy, I was trying to explain to him that cannabis would help him out with pain.” To Trpcevski’s suprise, his dad said: “‘No, that’s drugs. I don’t want that.’But then a friend of his, who’s a doctor said the cannabis oil might be helpful. So he comes to me one day and says, ‘How can I get this?’”
Trpcevski is visibly frustrated, but relieved by the outcome. “I was telling you this for a year,” he told his dad. “The older generation, it’s more work for them to understand that cannabis can be helpful for them. Now, every night my dad takes a little cannabis oil. He tells me, ‘I sleep like a baby. This is amazing!’”
Another Hibernica employee added to the stories of family healing: “The Calm vape from Ayrloom brought so much comfort and calm to the whole family, not just my parent who was going through cancer.”
Trpcevski said he also saw his restaurant patrons advocating for the plant. “When I was working at the bar, I had a customer who was using indica all the time for a serious illness,” he told Leafly. “He was telling me that it’s really helpful for him. So once people get more knowledgeable about the product, it’s easier for them to accept and try cannabis.”
The long road to opening
“It was over a year until we opened. So we bled money. To get the license, you need a space. So we rented the space, we got the license, and then the injunction happened. And everything was on halt. But the rent was not on halt. So you have to pay the rent.” Bojan Trpcevski (House of Hibernica)
Like most New York dispensaries, House of Hibernica went through a rollercoaster of emotions before being cleared to open this spring. “It was a whole year from when we applied for the license to opening,” said Trpcevski. “We had to have a store so we could apply. Then the injunction happened in 2022. So we were paying rent for a year.”
Trpcevski said his team “had no idea it would be this difficult. We thought it would be similar to the restaurant business, because we opened a few before. We thought it would be similar. I didn’t expect that we were going to wait so long, and every small thing is going to stop the whole process.”
In addition to the delays, some neighbors were unwelcoming at first. “A lot of people over here were hesitant to come in. They thought it was another illegal smoke shop. We spent a lot of time telling people this is a legal dispensary. Even when we presented our plan to the community board before we opened. A lot of people said, ‘Oh no, another one.’ So we got yelled at and booed by the community board. But we tried to explain that it’s not what they think.”
Trpcevski is proud to say: “I speak to people from that meeting now, and they say, ‘Now we know what you’re talking about. This is great.’ And we have people from this community working here–80% of my staff are from the Bronx. We even will have a neighborhood band that comes and plays music.”
The challenges of running a New York dispensary
(House of Hibernica)
3220 Westchester Ave, Bronx, NY — recreational
5(31)
For all the triumphs of finally opening, there are still challenges. Like customers who aren’t used to shopping legal.
Trpcevski said many new customers are “used to buying 8ths for $20 on the street, or from illegal smoke shops. Everyday, we try to explain to people that this is not the same product. It goes through a laboratory, every single item has all these certificates. And we have to pay taxes on top of that. So that’s why the product is a higher price.” With the flood of new business this summer, the Hibernica team was sometimes spending 10 to 15 minutes educating new customers.
There are more challenges to the early days of running a dispensary. Hibernica’s team said “some medical patients don’t want to shop here because we don’t require medical licenses, so they’re confused. They think we’re not legit.”
“When we publicized our grand opening online, the only platforms we could use were cannabis marketplaces like Leafly, since we were not on Google. From day one, we were all blown away by the reception of the community. All of the neighbors were coming in like, ‘We’ve been waiting for you guys!’”
Leafly teamed up with Trends Dispensary to address common stigmas about cannabis. We brought experts, activists, and growers together to help answer questions from the community.
Trends Dispensary in Long Island City, Queens is changing the narrative about cannabis. Trends stands for “The Real Experience Needs A Different Story.” Leafly is proud to partner with Trends for Shattering the Stigma, an interview series featuring pot pioneers from across the industry. Keep reading to hear from activist Dana Beal, researcher Dr. Sha-Ron Pierre, and some of New York’s brightest growers, grinders, and activists.
“It’s so important for us to gather and share our stories. I want to thank Leafly and Trends for setting up this forum.”
Dr. Sha-Ron Pierre Kovler, Glenmere Farms
Dave Hernandez is a marketing guru who’s helped build Happy Munkey into one of New York’s most popular cannabis brands. With Happy Munkey’s first legal dispensary location opening this month in Manhattan’s Dyckman neighborhood, Hernandez and his team are shepherding legacy cannabis culture into the mainstream.
“My mom is Dominican and Puerto Rican. She used to make fun of the smell when she would see people smoking in our building. She worked at Columbia University all my life. So when I went to school, got a degree, and wanted to sell weed, she was like, ‘I’m gonna tell people you’re going to law school.’ I got arrested, but even then she was a very supportive mom. Now, she’s proud of Happy Munkey and what we are doing in the legal space.”
Dave Hernandez, Happy Munkey
151 Dykman St., New York, NY — recreational
Dr. Sha-Ron Pierre Kovler, Glenmere Farms
Dr. Sha-Ron Pierre Kovler grew up believing the stigmas about cannabis. “I was born and raised in South Jamaica Queens,” she told Shattering the Stigma. “I grew up during the War on Drugs. So obviously, cannabis was known as a gateway drug to another harsh drug. And who wants that? So I said I’m gonna leave it alone. And my entire adult life, I didn’t partake at all. Because of growing up with that connection to my childhood. Because you saw what happened to people.” (Calvin Stovall / Leafly)
Dr. Sha-Ron Pierre Kovler is using her research background to help engineer strains with therapeutic effects, including anti-inflammation.
“I’m the first cultivator in New York state with my background–I completed my PhD in biology. I did my post doctoral studies at Columbia University. I study how cannabis can help with inflammation. Most of the diseases that will take you off of this planet come with inflammation. When you utilize the plant, it’s a form of medicine because outside of THC, other cannabinoids are responsible for regulating an inflammatory response in your body. I believe actually having the research to support will help remove that stigma and shame.”
Dr. Pierre Kovler told Shattering the Stigma, “At Glenmere Farms, our intention is to grow cultivars that have a plethora of cannabinoids with therapeutic uses. For me, those uses have been validated in peer-reviewed research. So our go-to is to reference the published research, because that’s where my training begins, and my level of comfort. I am not a cultivator by trade. My research background helps me work with a multidisciplinary team–a cultivation expert, a processing expert, and dispensaries. We fine tune our choices for consumers.”
“Back in 2018, with the passing of the farm bill, I became interested in the cannabis plant. A friend of mine said there’s an initiative with a $10 million endowment for research on hemp–That rung a bell. I began to understand the hemp plant, CBD, and there were so many other cannabinoids that had tremendous potential to really benefit patients. I was blown away. I didn’t understand why we hadn’t made more progress or research.”
After doing the research, Dr. Pierre Kovler is all in on the healing benefits of cannabis. She told Shattering the Stigma, “If you think about cannabis versus an FDA-approved drug– at the end of the FDA-approved commercial, there’s all these horrible side effects. But if you were to make a commercial for cannabis, the side effects are euphoria. Since the side effects are so well tolerated, it’s actually wise for people to indulge in the plant.”
Amy Chin, Consultant at Better Days and High Exposure NY
“Through my business Calm Better Days, people come to me for anxiety, insomnia, looking to find the right flower. That to me was amazing, because I’m doing something that I believe in that can help others.” – Amy Chin, consultant at Better Days (Calvin Stovall/Leafly)
Amy Chin is a cannabis consultant with Better Days and the High Exposure Agency. Chin and her team work with New York brands and dispensaries to address stigmas and cultural borders that still prevent people from enjoying the benefits of cannabis.
“My first time was sophomore year in college. Some friends offered cannabis to me, and I got the munchies. I did not return to it until my mid-twenties. I was never exposed to it often. I was used to being on a natural high. I’m allergic to alcohol, so my vice became cannabis.”
Amy Chin, Better Days
Chin’s parents were not fond of her love for cannabis early on. “My parents found cannabis in my room, in my purse,” she remembers. “I told them it was oregano. I was in my twenties when this happened. It was the only thing I could come up with. Now I tell them what I do, and they don’t understand it. So they just don’t ask me questions about it. I have given them CBD samples. But my parents are very old school, very stubborn. They don’t like Western medication, they don’t like Eastern medicine–they don’t like anything.”
“As a cannabis coach, I can work with the end consumer or the business that is looking for consumers. That includes consumer treatment plans, guides on how to consume . I’m also a consultant at the High Exposure Agency. We do consulting in the industry for retailers and business development. We also do events and fun projects that aim to push the needle in the industry.”
Amy Chin, Better Days
How cannabis helped me become a better mother
“My relationship with cannabis changed when I became a mom. I had anxiety and postpartum depression. At that time, life really sucked. Every day, I would wake up and feel like I’m living Groundhog Day. And I wished that I didn’t wake up, as an easy way out. My therapist diagnosed me, and she also recommended CBD. This was 10 years ago. So I got my medical card. I did see the changes in myself. Drastically. It gave me a moment to pause. And made me realize, ‘Wow, what a difference in myself.’” – Amy Chin, Better Days (AdobeStock)
As a mother who consumes cannabis, Amy Chin told Shattering the Stigma: “When I was pregnant, I did look at the Jamaica study on pregnant moms. At that time, that was the only study on that. With my first pregnancy I did not smoke, with my second one I did. That’s a personal choice. Now that it is legal, I advise moms to check regulations in your state. Because the state can come and take your kids away. So I was very discreet about my consumption until it was legal. Now that it is legal, I talk about it openly, because I want for people to understand that you can consume CBD, not feel a high, and to still reap the benefits of the plant. I am on it all day. There is nothing I don’t use CBD for. Daytime anxiety, I use THC at night when I need to really unwind. I use facial oil, I use intimacy products, and tinctures as well.”
“I was researching everything I could about cannabis. Then the Farm Bill was passed, and CBD was everywhere. People said it was snake oil. So I saw that there was a need to guide people. Consuming THC and CBD and knowing all the different effects and living through them, I decided I’m going to solve that problem and educate people on cannabis and how it helped me.”
Dana Beal, Activist, Co-Founder of The Cannabis Parade
“We did the levitation of the Pentagon, where we gave out four pounds of joints and levitated the Pentagon. We started doing smoke-ins every year in 1973. Then we did the Pot Parade. And last year I got an award from Mayor Adams. NYC Cannabis Czar Dasheeda Dawson honored me for keeping it going through the dark days of Giulliani. In one year, Giulliani had 325 people arrested at the Pot Parade.” – Dana Beal, cannabis legalization pioneer (Calvin Stovall/Leafly)
Dana Beal is a world famous cannabis pioneer and activist. He told Shattering the Stigma about his days fighting for legalization in the 1960s, 1970s, and beyond. Even today, Beal is facing a charge in Idaho for trafficking cannabis to medical patients. Click here to contribute to his bail fund.
Beal told Shattering the Stigma, “I got arrested for weed earlier this year, and I’m facing eight more months in the clink in Idaho. It’s the last state in the area that has not legalized. And they want to say, ‘we’re different.’ But they have dispensaries in Montana, Washington, Oregon, Nevada–every bordering state with the exception of Wyoming. And we think Idaho is the next domino to fall. Because everybody in the state is saying, ‘we have to go to Oregon to get our weed!’”
The long road to legalization and normalization
Cannabis pioneer Dana Beal at Democratic National Counter Convention in 1976. (Instagram/@DanaBealOfficial)
Dana Beal remembers various movements to legalize the plant during his life. Beal told Shattering the Stigma about one 420-friendly politician who he remembers openly endorsed cannabis in the 1960s.
“So many times, they almost legalized weed. John F. Kennedy was a medical marijuana user who had a back brace and severe back issues. And RFK was friends with Alan Ginsberg. And he said on national television that cannabis is less harmful than tobacco. They assassinated him right away. This was the month that he was assassinated that he said this. It had a very significant stigma back then.”
Dana Beal, cannabis legalization pioneer
Beal said he was convinced that cannabis was a force for good when he saw a few joints deescalate a potential riot in downtown Manhattan. “We were tripping on mescaline once on 2nd street,” Beal said, “and we were coming down, by the precinct. The cops had busted a peace picnic for having blankets and food on the grass. And it enraged the locals. The police pressed a woman against a wire fence. So a big crowd went down to the police station. And they were all yelling and screaming. The Grateful Dead was playing their first time in New York City. And they were playing a free concert in Tompkins Square park. So we broke out the weed. And this wave of peace descended over everyone. The one thing the hippies and the locals had in common is they all smoked herb. And they could pass joints. We started having regular smoke-ins in the park.”
After decades of fighting the stigma. Beal is as optimistic as anyone about the future of the cannabis. He cites recent studies about the increasing popularity of cannabis with pride.
“Right now for the first time, the number of people smoking pot has exceeded the number of people drinking alcohol. That means despite being illegal, and bad-mouthed to the extreme, people prefer the superior alternative!”
Dana Beal, cannabis legalization pioneer
Papi Santos, Vibe Tribe NYC
Papi Santos is a Queens native who shoots content, organizes Vibe Tribe events, and studies cultivation. Santos told Shattering the Stigma: “I do videos and marketing with cannabis companies on both sides of the business.”
“I started using cannabis when I was 16. Coming from a Pentecostal and Catholic household, it was kind of instilled in me that weed is the devil.”
Lupita is a New York native who runs a channel called NYC POV 420, which does marketing, education and events for brands and dispensaries.
“It’s a love and hate relationship with cannabis in my family. I grew up in a Hispanic household. So smoking weed was very stigmatized in my house. They’d rather have you drinking alcohol and taking tequila shots rather than smoking weed… Now, it’s a nice relationship I have with cannabis. I still live in that Spanish household. But I went to the doctor and became a medical card holder. That helps quiet my family when it comes to that. Hopefully I become one of those advocates for Spanish households to help break the stigma.”
Lupita told Shattering the Stigma, “My first time trying cannabis was at the age of 16. Weed didn’t really get my attention until I was 25. I had two car accidents at an early age, which left me with chronic back pain. I went to the hospital, and they prescribed me hard pain killers. That was ongoing for a year. I didn’t like it. I left it, and my chronic back pain came back.”
“I started freelancing and doing content for small businesses in cannabis. I wanted to meet more 420-friendly people. I didn’t really grow up smoking weed, I mostly grew up drinking. So I didn’t hang out with a lot of cannabis consumers. I wanted to do consumer-based content, where you could see yourself in it–experiential content for brands and dispensaries in New York.”
“I learned that there’s many people out there who have no idea what they’re putting into their body when they consume. I created and published a cannabis journal that’s now available at some licensed New York dispensaries.”
