For over 25 years, Vinnie Fiorello handled the drums (and wrote the lyrics) in ska punk band Less Than Jake. Although he left the band in 2019, he's kept busy with his latest endeavour: running his own CBD band, Sailor Diggen's Finest.
We caught up with Fiorello about his involvement in the cannabis community, which began when he started using CBD to manage an injury. Since then, he's become a proponent of both CBD and THC, and he told Exclaim! all about his cannabis preferences and his thoughts on legalization.
What do you smoke and how do you consume it?
When traveling through Portland, I stock up on Titan's Kind edibles and meet up with grower and good friends at Mongo Ranch. In Denver, I stop in the Native Roots stores, which happens to be the place that really tuned me onto helping myself from the injury I had. I love CBD-dominant strains of flower, but I love the ease of cartridges, and my go-to strain for that is usually Girl Scout Cookies. I really have been enjoying CBD coffee and seltzer water at the moment too.
What do you like to do when you smoke?
Lately I have been doing some good creative work after smoking, but after my hiatus from smoking, it was specifically for relaxation. I was suffering from high and lows of anxiety, and smoking at the end of the night helped me unwind the stress from the day. I had hurt my shoulder from years of drumming, then severely injured my ankle on tour and started a CBD regime for healing, and added more THC to get my emotions focused.
Smoking at the end of the night has been a great ritual, though — shedding the day and moving on from everything, reflecting on the day and being grateful for all the things that happened.
What do you think about the recent changes in cannabis culture?
As I said, I stopped smoking for years and came back to the culture to heal from a bad injury. During the time medical and recreational laws passed, I had been traveling a lot through touring, and places like Denver and Portland were great places to explore the shops and find what worked and what felt right. More states here in the U.S. will follow in the next few years. It feels like massive strides were made, but more is needed.
Where in your city is great for cannabis?
My favourite CBD store here in Gainesville, Florida, is Swamp City Gallery Lounge. A very cool compound for hanging out. Gainesville is outdoor-focused, so Sweetwater Wetlands, Paynes Prairie and Depot Park are places to go and soak up some of the town. There are lots of getaways tucked around the city, check the Instagram @weirdgainesville.
Are there hidden (or not-so-hidden) cannabis references in your music?
On every Less Than Jake record, there has been a bong hit, hidden and not so hidden!
Who are your cannabis heroes?
My cannabis hero is Joe from Mongo Ranch. Not only did he grow and sell the Less Than Jake strain in Oregon, but he became a great friend and cannabis teacher for me. He pointed me in the right direction for healing those foot injuries — and because of that, we decided to do a CBD white label company together called Sailor Diggen's where we do CBD flower pre-rolls, hot sauce and coffee beans.
We caught up with Fiorello about his involvement in the cannabis community, which began when he started using CBD to manage an injury. Since then, he's become a proponent of both CBD and THC, and he told Exclaim! all about his cannabis preferences and his thoughts on legalization.
What do you smoke and how do you consume it?
When traveling through Portland, I stock up on Titan's Kind edibles and meet up with grower and good friends at Mongo Ranch. In Denver, I stop in the Native Roots stores, which happens to be the place that really tuned me onto helping myself from the injury I had. I love CBD-dominant strains of flower, but I love the ease of cartridges, and my go-to strain for that is usually Girl Scout Cookies. I really have been enjoying CBD coffee and seltzer water at the moment too.
What do you like to do when you smoke?
Lately I have been doing some good creative work after smoking, but after my hiatus from smoking, it was specifically for relaxation. I was suffering from high and lows of anxiety, and smoking at the end of the night helped me unwind the stress from the day. I had hurt my shoulder from years of drumming, then severely injured my ankle on tour and started a CBD regime for healing, and added more THC to get my emotions focused.
Smoking at the end of the night has been a great ritual, though — shedding the day and moving on from everything, reflecting on the day and being grateful for all the things that happened.
What do you think about the recent changes in cannabis culture?
As I said, I stopped smoking for years and came back to the culture to heal from a bad injury. During the time medical and recreational laws passed, I had been traveling a lot through touring, and places like Denver and Portland were great places to explore the shops and find what worked and what felt right. More states here in the U.S. will follow in the next few years. It feels like massive strides were made, but more is needed.
Where in your city is great for cannabis?
My favourite CBD store here in Gainesville, Florida, is Swamp City Gallery Lounge. A very cool compound for hanging out. Gainesville is outdoor-focused, so Sweetwater Wetlands, Paynes Prairie and Depot Park are places to go and soak up some of the town. There are lots of getaways tucked around the city, check the Instagram @weirdgainesville.
Are there hidden (or not-so-hidden) cannabis references in your music?
On every Less Than Jake record, there has been a bong hit, hidden and not so hidden!
Who are your cannabis heroes?
My cannabis hero is Joe from Mongo Ranch. Not only did he grow and sell the Less Than Jake strain in Oregon, but he became a great friend and cannabis teacher for me. He pointed me in the right direction for healing those foot injuries — and because of that, we decided to do a CBD white label company together called Sailor Diggen's where we do CBD flower pre-rolls, hot sauce and coffee beans.
