CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP FOR HIGH-MINDED FOLK
Reclaim Your Cannabis Story and 10x Your Creativity
WHY DO THIS WORKSHOP?
No two cannabis users are the same. No two stories about using cannabis are the same. But no one knows this because the people who use cannabis rarely share their stories due to stigma, which keeps us quiet.
But if you’re a user of cannabis, you are sitting on a wealth of knowledge that the world needs to hear. Why? This is how you break stigma. This is how you break stereotypes.
This is how you push back against centuries of propaganda. This is how you connect to your shadow self, deepest desires and hidden stories. This is how you ignite your inner storyteller and 10x your creativity.
Your story deserves to be told. Millions of people are waiting for you to connect with your inner storyteller and share your story with the world. More importantly, you owe it to yourself to tell the stories that live inside you and are aching to be expressed because that is the source of your infinite creative power.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:
This 1-day workshop is divided into two parts:
In the first half of the workshop, I delve deep into the literary history of stigma to show how it’s evolved over the last three centuries as well as how the work of Romantic and Transcendentalist writers changed our relationship to creativity.
In the second half of the workshop, I’ll draw on a series of writing exercises to help you explore your shadow relationship to cannabis and unlock your inner storyteller. Then, using the Hero’s Journey as a guide along with photos and memory, you’ll explore your story arc to make friends with your shadow, tap into the infinite power of your creativity and reclaim your cannabis story.
This unique workshop is designed to help you release the grip of stigma, rewrite your connection to cannabis and explode your creativity.
The goal isn’t escapism or getting lost in a haze. It’s about accessing new perspectives, loosening mental rigidity, and helping you drop into a state of flow, so that you can sharpen your focus, spark your imagination and 10x your creativity.
WHO IS THIS WORKSHOP FOR?
It’s for writers of all levels who want confront and overcome the issue of stigma or paranoia that leads to self-doubt and writer’s block.
It’s for writers of all levels who are frustrated by the lack of real stories by real people in mainstream media and want that to change.
It’s for writers of all levels who want to connect to their inner storyteller and learn how to write the quiet, difficult stories that live inside them.
It’s for writers of all levels who believe in the power of naming hidden truths to shape the future of cannabis culture.
WHO IS THE TEACHER?
Sasha Kerry Smith is a writer, poet and performer who wrote for the cannabis industry for seven years. She also holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Manchester where she studied under Jeannette Winterson.
Her longform nonfiction and short stories have been published widely, and her debut collection of poetry, Infinite Jade, was published in audio format in August 2026. Today, she performs poems from the collection live at select venues as part of her mission to rewrite the story of addiction.
Published Works:
Joint Philosophy: Writing Is A Ritual So Is Cannabis
High Times: My Cannabis Crisis of Identity
Cannabis Business Times: Ireland Hemp Regeneration Project
Merry Jane: Report on Spain’s Cannabis Social Clubs 2018
Manchester Review: Waiting For Liz’s Honda (Fiction)
The Manifest-Station: The Woman Who Stares at Clocks (Personal nonfiction)
OUTLINE OF WORKSHOP:
PART 1 (3 hours):
1. INHERITED STORIES:
Exploring the evolution of cannabis as mythos in our inherited stories.
2. INHERITED STIGMA:
Exploring the history of drug use over the last three centuries and the evolution of stigma.
3. INHERITED STEREOTYPES:
Exploring the work of key writers to illustrate how they shape the story of stigma today.
PART 2 (3 hours):
1. SHADOW STORIES:
Exploring your history of stigma to reveal the invisible world of creative desires in your hidden habit.
2. STORY ARC OF A STONER:
Exploring the hero’s journey as a guide to stir your imagination, step out of old narratives and drop you into a state of focus and flow.
3. SPARK YOUR INNER STORYTELLER:
Exploring the sublime to make friends with your shadow, rewrite your shame and reclaim your cannabis story.
WHAT YOU’LL TAKE AWAY:
After this workshop, you’ll embrace the questions that cannabis sparks in your mind, and rather than running from them, you’ll use them as a springboard into the next chapter of your writing journey. You’ll start writing the stories that are most dear and true for you.
For writers who want to develop the stories they start in the workshop into publishable pieces, it’s possible to book a follow up call with me to discuss possible routes to publication. I very much encourage all writers to share their story with the world, and am happy to help them achieve that.
WORKSHOP FORMAT
This workshop is an in-person daylong event that will be held at select venues in the south of Spain.
Online versions of this workshop will be available in the future.
WORKSHOP RATES & TERMS
Details provided upon request.
It’s my goal to work with venues that provide food so that lunch can be included in the price. Once dates and venues are confirmed, prices will be available.
BRING WITH YOU:
Pen, notebook, your favourite book, photographs from your past selected by you, diaries if you have them, your favourite smoke paraphernalia, your smoke materials and some bud or flake, depending on your preference.
TO GET IN TOUCH:
For further details, use the contact form below with RECLAIM WORKSHOP in the subject box and I will respond asap. You can also email thehealthyhashhead@gmail.com directly.
