How OG Strain Got His Groove Back

From Hospital Bed to Hemp Headlines: The Story Behind the Reviews

By OG Strain

There was a time when the only strain I was worried about was the kind involved in trying to sit up in a hospital bed without sounding like Rice Krispies.

Snap, crackle, “somebody help me up.”

That’s where this whole journey really started.

A lot of people know me now as OG Strain — the guy cracking jokes, reviewing flower, breaking down terpene profiles like I’ve got a PhD from the University of Puff-Puff-Pass. People see the videos, the articles, the events, the cannabis cups, the festivals, and the movement we’ve built together.

But if you’re new here, if you just tapped into Strain’s Strain Reviews (Talk Cannabis) or started reading my work here in The Plugs Pages, you might not know the real story.

And trust me… this story didn’t start with me standing in some beautiful grow room holding a frosty cola while dramatic music played in the background like a cannabis documentary on Netflix.

Nah.

It started flat on my back.

When New York Went Green, My World Was Red Alert

When cannabis became legal in New York State, I knew immediately that this was it.

This was the moment.

This was the thing I had been waiting for my whole life.

For anybody who really knows me, cannabis has always been part of my world. Long before legalization, long before dispensaries, back when “customer loyalty points” meant your plug answering on the first call.

I knew I wanted in.

I wanted to be part of the culture, part of the movement, part of building something bigger than all of us.

But life had other plans.

Right when New York opened the doors to legal cannabis, I was fighting for my life.

I was dealing with a severe septic blood infection that absolutely wrecked my body. It delayed a hip replacement surgery I had already needed for over a decade. Things got so bad that at one point I was a two-person assist just to get to the bathroom.

Think about that.

While people were celebrating legalization, planning grows, opening businesses, and getting their foot in the door, I was basically starring in my own unwanted reboot of The Walking Dead — except slower and with significantly less cardio.

I spent four months hospitalized.

And even after coming home, recovery was brutal.

For nearly four years, I couldn’t even drive.

Growing? Not happening.

Working in cultivation? Physically impossible.

Budtending? Even that wasn’t realistic.

Sure, my cannabis knowledge and years of experience probably could’ve landed me behind a dispensary counter. But standing all day? Stocking product? Moving around constantly?

My hips would’ve filed a formal complaint.

At that time, there were days I couldn’t even move from one room to another without help.

So there I was.

Cannabis legalization had finally arrived.

And I couldn’t physically participate in any of the traditional ways.

When You Can’t Walk the Path, You Build Your Own

Being sidelined physically didn’t kill the passion.

If anything, it intensified it.

Lying there in bed, I started thinking:

If I can’t grow it…
If I can’t sell it…
If I can’t work events…
How can I still contribute?

Then it hit me.

Review it.

Study it.

Break it down.

Become the voice.

That’s when OG Strain the reviewer was born.

And what started as something to stay connected quickly turned into a full-on obsession.

I dove headfirst into cannabis research, especially terpenes.

Back in my growing days, I understood strains mostly through the old-school lens: indica, sativa, hybrid, and whether it made your friend eat an entire family-sized box of cereal at 2 a.m.

But terpenes?

That opened a whole new world.

I realized something huge:

Not all cannabis is created equal.

That sounds obvious now, but for a lot of people — including me at first — weed was just weed.

Then I learned that terpene profiles completely shape the experience.

One strain can have you cleaning your entire kitchen at 8 a.m. like you’re auditioning for a home renovation show.

Another can have you staring at your microwave clock for 17 minutes wondering why it says “food.”

Some strains stimulate appetite.

Some suppress it.

Some energize.

Some sedate.

Some sharpen focus.

Some make you laugh so hard at absolutely nothing that your ribs file for workers’ comp.

That fascinated me.

I wanted to know everything.

If someone was exhausted, what strain could help?

If appetite was an issue, what worked best?

If somebody wanted daytime relief without couch-lock, what terpene combination delivered?

I studied it like a pharmacist studies medicine.

And before I knew it, I had become a terpene expert.

From Bedside Reviews to Building a Movement

What started as strain reviews from my bed evolved into something bigger.

I began reviewing flower, concentrates, products, dispensaries, brands, and eventually the entire experience surrounding cannabis culture.

As my health slowly improved — especially after finally getting one hip replaced last year — I started getting out more.

And that changed everything.

That surgery gave me part of my life back.

No, I’m not running marathons.

Let’s not get crazy.

If you ever see me training for a 5K, please assume I’ve been replaced by AI.

But I can walk.

I can drive.

I can move.

And that freedom opened doors.

I started attending cannabis cups, festivals, events, pop-ups, and community gatherings.

I showed up.

I recorded.

I interviewed.

I reviewed.

I became part of the culture in person.

Then came another turning point.

After my son was interviewed by The Plugs Pages, I made connections that eventually led to me writing for this magazine.

That opportunity deepened everything.

It gave me another lane to educate, entertain, and represent this community.

And from there?

Things took off.

The Moment It Became Real

I’ll never forget the first time someone approached me at an event and recognized me.

“Yo… you’re OG Strain.”

At first, I thought maybe I owed them money.

Turns out, they were thanking me.

They told me they bought a product because of one of my reviews.

That they trusted my breakdown.

That it turned out exactly how I said it would.

That moment hit different.

Then it kept happening.

Again.

And again.

And again.

People from all over the cannabis community started recognizing me at festivals and events.

Growers.

Consumers.

Vendors.

Supporters.

People who genuinely appreciated the work.

That’s when I knew this wasn’t just content.

This was impact.

And honestly, that acceptance meant more than I can explain.

Because while this community embraced me, some people in my personal life didn’t understand the path I chose.

Some turned their backs.

Some judged.

Some doubted.

But the cannabis community?

Y’all welcomed me like family.

Sometimes even more than family.

That kind of support changes a person.

Why This Means Everything

Today, Strain’s Strain Reviews (Talk Cannabis) continues to grow.

And what makes that growth so special is how real it is.

Every view.

Every subscriber.

Every comment.

Every person who watches, supports, and shares.

It’s organic.

No fake numbers.

No bought views.

No gimmicks.

Just real people from real communities who care about honest cannabis reviews.

That means everything.

Especially because cannabis content creators know the struggle.

Most of my videos get age-restricted.

YouTube definitely isn’t rolling out the red carpet for cannabis creators.

Let’s just say the algorithm treats us like we showed up to a black-tie event wearing a gas mask and holding a bong.

And despite that?

The channel keeps growing.

Videos consistently hit strong view counts fast.

People trust the work.

That trust is earned.

And I never take that lightly.

Thank You for Letting Me Be Part of This

If there’s one thing I want new supporters to understand, it’s this:

I didn’t choose cannabis reviewing because it was the easiest path.

I chose it because it was the path I could take when every other door was physically closed.

And somehow, through pain, setbacks, surgeries, recovery, and rebuilding my life, that path became exactly where I was supposed to be.

This lane?

I carved it myself.

And I love every second of driving in it.

To every dispensary owner, grower, event organizer, vendor, reader, subscriber, supporter, and fellow cannabis enthusiast who has shown love:

Thank you.

Thank you for believing in me.

Thank you for trusting my voice.

Thank you for helping build this movement.

You didn’t just support a reviewer.

You helped give someone purpose when life tried to take it away.

And for that, I’ll always keep showing up, keep reviewing, keep writing, and keep representing this culture with honesty, humor, and heart.

This is bigger than weed.

This is community.

This is family.

And from the bottom of my heart…

Thank you for making OG Strain who he is today.