Taipei, Taiwan – Joyce Wu was always curious about cannabis.
Wu tried it a few times in Taiwan, where she grew up, but did not like the effects and the added anxiety around using it illegally made the experience less enjoyable. It was only after she came to the United States in 2015 that she felt safe enough to experiment and discovered the relaxing effects that cannabis can have.
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the world in uncertainty, Wu found that cannabis was the only thing that helped ease her nerves. She wanted to share its benefits with her friends and family in Taiwan.
“I was reading a lot of news and I wondered if my friends and family in Taiwan will be in the same situation as me,” Wu told Al Jazeera. “I was super anxious. And I wanted to help them and show them that something herbal – not like a medicine – can help them reduce their anxiety.”
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