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Posted

I'm advocating for turkey on the smoker.  The wife wants to go traditional oven.  Everyone always enjoys the smoked turkey.  Wife just feels it's not "traditional" enough.  I argue it opens up the oven for the multiple sides that will be required.

But today, let us discuss "the cousin walk."  For us, it was the "cousin pull on the Wild Turkey" bottle or some such back in the day.  But some form of pregaming was always welcomed and apprecitated.

This Year’s Thanksgiving Surprise: Half of the Guests Are Stoned

What started as a secret trip to smoke pot before dinner has mushroomed into a full-blown commercial holiday. Behold the ‘cousin walk.’

By 

Ellen Gamerman

 

The excursion goes by several different names, including ‘pre-dinner safety meeting.’ 

 

Ever notice at Thanksgiving dinner when certain members of your family return from “walking the dog” or “picking up more ice,” you’re suddenly a paragon of wit and insight? 

 

You’re not. They’re just high. 

 

Thank—or blame—the “cousin walk.” 

 

The term is shorthand for the moment when certain younger members of the family quietly grab their coats, glance toward the door and—clutch those pearls—get stoned before rejoining the festivities with altered minds and ravenous hunger. 

 

“We kind of look at each other and go, ‘Ready for that walk?’” says Priyanka Pulijal, 36, a Los Angeles cannabis enthusiast who never hits the holiday without a stash. “We have a couple puffs and just laugh about something, roll our eyes at our silly uncle, just have a good time.” 

 

What started as a subversive activity among dedicated stoners has mushroomed into a full-blown tradition. Like every other holiday, it’s gone commercial. With marijuana legal for medicinal use in 40 states and recreational use in more than half of those, the industry is seizing on the popularity of the pre-turkey toke.

This year, don’t be surprised if Grandma gets a little loopy after toasting with a cannabis-infused beverage in her wine glass, or your aunt brings two varieties of stuffing—one made with cannabis-infused rosemary oil, one without. In a way, wasn’t this inevitable for a holiday that’s always been all about the munchies? 

 

The cousin walk, which also goes by no name and many names—“cousins walk,” “Thanksgiving walk” and “pre-dinner safety meeting”—is big enough to spur sales on what’s now known as “Green Wednesday,” a marijuana-buying version of Black Friday the day before Thanksgiving. Dispensaries say it’s often the second-biggest day for cannabis sales after the pot-celebration day 420 on April 20th.

 

Snack businesses have slyly marketed to this group of buyers. “Pre-Thanksgiving-Dinner Cousin Walk,” one Instagram ad for Jif peanut butter read last year over a picture of a guy holding open his jacket with a Jif squeeze pouch tucked inside. Hidden Valley’s Instagram featured a promotion for a Taco Bell collaboration last Christmas with a reference to the cousin walk next to a picture of a purple Taco Bell box and Fire Ranch dipping sauce. “This could heal me,” the text reads.

 

The New York dispensary Gotham just released ads for a container of pre-rolled joints that travels easily for what the company calls “a secret society that meets once a year.” In a new video advertising the item, a group of cannabis users head into the fall air to get high. A serene voiceover coos that a mid-holiday cannabis break takes the edge off obnoxious relatives who won’t stop talking about crypto, vaccines and other people’s life choices.

 

The Cannabis Media Council, a trade association working to remove the stigma from marijuana use, is launching a cousin-walk themed public service announcement targeting people over age 65. Next to an image of two people in pink and purple tracksuits is text encouraging a post-dinner stroll. Nothing too strenuous.

 

“A quick loop around the block,” the copy reads. “Every family has a version of the Thanksgiving escape, usually led by the cousins who ‘just need some air.’” 

Not everyone is amused. Just this month, Congress significantly narrowed the definition of legal hemp, a move that targets nationally sold gummies, drinks and other products made with hemp-derived THC, the active compound in cannabis that creates the high. Dispensaries that sell cannabis aren’t affected by the new rule since they’re state-regulated. 

Critics consider marijuana a threat to public safety and a health risk that’s particularly inappropriate at family gatherings where children are present. 

 

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The Cannabis Media Council is launching a public service announcement centered on the cousin walk. Cannabis Media Council

Hiding the activity from disapproving kin—as much as a person reeking of weed can—is part of the fun for participants. It can be a two-way act: some of those familial squares know exactly what’s happening outside even if they act like they don’t.   

 

“The first rule of the cousin walk is that we do not discuss the cousin walk,” Landon Bryant, 37, a writer and influencer from Laurel, Miss., says in a TikTok video about the tradition. Gossiping about other guests is key to the experience, he says: “It’s like an honor to be discussed on the cousin walk.”

 

In an interview, Bryant says he and his cousins never actually get high on their walks. The worst they’ve done is smell up the house after rolling around outside with a couple of dirty beagles. The main point is the fellowship. “It’s the bonding moments that you remember.”

 

Chris Sayegh, 33, a Los Angeles chef who cooks with cannabis, says some of his favorite Thanksgiving stories revolve around that stroll, where people dare to speak truths too real for the dinner table. “Looking back on this,” he says, “it’s some of the very best times in life.” 

 

Pot champions such as Stoney McBlaze have been waiting for this public embrace. The 30-year-old Los Angeles-area comic, whose real name is Austin Kress, says he’s long believed that stoned people make the best house guests. They’re the first to volunteer for chores, and if they’re too stoned after the meal, they’ll just hide out washing dishes. 

 

The tradition is not without complications. A couple of Thanksgivings ago, Pulijal, who is creative director of the cannabis brand Miss Grass, says some anti-cannabis relatives saw cousins leaving and wanted to join them, not realizing what was afoot. “We’re like, ‘No, no, we just want to catch up. You can stay here.’” Eventually, the relatives figured out what was happening. 

 

Pulijal was busted, yes—but daunted? No.

 

“Cat’s out of the bag,” she told them. “This is why we’re going on a walk.”

Posted

Last year, my son and his cousin took a walk after the meal.  I smirked at them when they left.  Unfortunately, that cousin won't be able to join us this year.  But I'm sure he'll volunteer to walk the dogs.  He's so helpful during the holidays.  :) 

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