Seattle’s Favorite Medicine Matchmaker
Born and raised in Seattle, Colleen “Doc Star” Cochran was born in June of 1969 and has lived nothing short of a colorful and intriguing life. She started to use cannabis recreationally and thus began her career as a woman in weed on the streets of Seattle. By 21, Colleen was serving cocktails at Washington’s ‘Peppermill Casino’ where her fiery looks and personality received the attention of management, earning her the title of lead server.
When Colleen was 13, she was diagnosed with Hepatitis-C as a result of a sub infection of Hep 1B after receiving blood transfusions for a ruptured cyst in her abdomen which resulted in sepsis. She received the transfusions in 1981 before medically advanced testing was available to properly screen for tainted blood. Treatments for her illness commenced in 1998. At the time of her initial diagnosis, the doctor told her that the internet probably had more information on Hep-C than he could medically provide. Thanks for nothing, dude.
Symptoms of Hep C include vomiting, which results in an inability to keep weight on. Colleen jokes, “I’m not this thin because I work out.” She was the first Hep C patient to qualify for an experimental treatment called Sovaldi (used in combination with other medications to help fight Hep-C). But alas, the treatment was a failure.
After moving to Nevada, Colleen returned to Seattle and began researching the medicinal properties of cannabis to help a young women gain pain relief.
For the last five years Colleen has been medicating solely with cannabis. She feels that her symptoms (vomiting, lethargy) are now far more manageable thanks to cannabis. Her strain of choice is Golden Star, cultivated by Sirius Buds, a local Washington producer which has a 1:1 ratio of CBD/THC, thus creating the “Golden Ratio.”
Colleen likes to rise and shine with a bowl or a blunt to get her motor running and typically vapes throughout the work day or enjoys a tasty bud infused beverage like Legal Soda or Cleo lemonades. She describes many delightful ways to keep her symptoms at bay including edible pastries and candies.
For many obvious reasons, Colleen knew she needed to get healthed up. This included cutting out nicotine and educating herself on all things inhalation and cannabis. She read a study conducted by Dr. Rafael Meshulam of the University of Israel, on the lung function of cigarette smokers, cannabis smokers, cigarette and cannabis smokers and non-smokers. The study concluded that people who inhaled only cigarettes had poor lung function; the people who smoked both had similar lung function to the non- smoker; and the people who only smoked weed had better lung function than all of them.
Colleen applied to work for two different Washington dispensaries at the same time. She was immediately snapped up by the folks at Conscious Care Cooperative in Lake City, Washington. This would be her first job working with legal cannabis. She stayed with the company for three years where she was promoted to manager before beginning employment with Greenworks, also located in Lake City. As of today, she continues to attend courses at Seattle Central College to learn more about the medicinal uses for cannabis. She’s also taken online courses for ‘Medical Consultant Training’ with Professor Trey Wreckling and has recently attended a class to learn about how terpenes and cannabinoids can help with pain management. Colleen recommends taking time to watch Professor Trey’s online lectures to better understand what cannabis can do to heal people.
Colleen has been an advocate of cannabis and naturopathic healing for quite some time, but acknowledges there will always be debates amongst healers. Some arguments against cannabis are of course politically, ethically or financially spawned. But, she doesn’t mind going to battle to peacefully promote a more soulful approach to cannabis.
If ever you find yourself in Northern Seattle and in need of careful medicinal recommendations it will please you to know Colleen enjoys, and prefers, one-on-one consultations with her clients at Greenworks. This allows her to better understand their ailments so she can properly suggest a strain or cannabis product that will best aid folks in their plight for comfort or healing. Colleen can also recommend some killer cannabis infused topicals for joint and back pain relief, and for those pesky bags under your eyes.
“Cannabis for me personally has made my quality of life a thousand percent better, having gone through different treatments for Hepatitis that left me dramatically incapacitated. The side effects were so debilitating, between the wasting away, the nausea and the disease in and of itself. Cannabis has made it so I have an appetite, and it’s made it so I’m not in pain or vomiting every single morning,” she added. “It’s made it so I can be a parent that was there and present. It’s made it so I could be a dependable employee, I’ve never missed a shift. Before marijuana I was on chemo and absent most of the time.”
Colleen is certified through the state of Washington as a medical cannabis consultant. To learn more, or to contact Colleen directly, visit GreenWorksCannabis.com or call 206.922.3911
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