As she boarded the unmarked 56-seat charter bus parked outside Leisure World Seal Beach on Monday, April 8, resident Ellen Bitters knew she was on a mission.

She had never tried a cannabis product before — but today would be the day.

Trip organizer Kandice Hawes, left, helps Leisure World seniors board a dispensary bound bus in Seal Beach on Monday, Apr. 8, 2019. About a dozen seniors from Leisure World took a field trip to Modern Buds dispensary to gets some education as well as the opportunity to purchase cannabis products for either medicinal or recreational uses. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

Modern Buds dispensary on 3700 block of East Broadway in Long Beach on Monday, Apr. 8, 2019. About a dozen seniors from Leisure World took a field trip to Modern Buds dispensary to gets some education as well as the opportunity to purchase cannabis products for either medicinal or recreational uses. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

Seniors crowd a room to speak one on one with cannabis vendors during a trip to a dispensary in Long Beach on Monday, Apr. 8, 2019. About a dozen seniors from Leisure World took a field trip to Modern Buds dispensary to gets some education as well as the opportunity to purchase cannabis products for either medicinal or recreational uses. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

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Cannabis lotion is rubbed onto the sore elbow of a senior during a trip to Modern Buds dispensary in Long Beach on Monday, Apr. 8, 2019. About a dozen seniors from Leisure World took a field trip to the dispensary to gets some education as well as the opportunity to purchase cannabis products for either medicinal or recreational uses. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

Leisure World resident Carol, left, gets some help selecting a vape cartridge from Modern Buds general manager Jonny Sabella in Long Beach on Monday, Apr. 8, 2019. About a dozen seniors from Leisure World took a field trip to Modern Buds dispensary to gets some education as well as the opportunity to purchase cannabis products for either medicinal or recreational uses. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)



As she boarded the unmarked 56-seat charter bus parked outside Leisure World Seal Beach on Monday, April 8, resident Ellen Bitters knew she was on a mission. She had never tried a cannabis product before — but today would be the day. The 76-year-old, who has the energy of a kid in a candy store […]

Leisure World seniors gather in Modern Buds dispensary as they purchase various cannabis products in Long Beach on Monday, Apr. 8, 2019. About a dozen seniors from Leisure World took a field trip to Modern Buds dispensary to gets some education as well as the opportunity to purchase cannabis products for either medicinal or recreational uses. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

As she boarded the unmarked 56-seat charter bus parked outside Leisure World Seal Beach on Monday, April 8, resident Ellen Bitters knew she was on a mission. She had never tried a cannabis product before — but today would be the day. The 76-year-old, who has the energy of a kid in a candy store […]

Leisure World resident Ellen Bitters, 76, right, gets some help tablets and a patch that will help her with knee pain in Long Beach on Monday, Apr. 8, 2019. About a dozen seniors from Leisure World took a field trip to Modern Buds dispensary to gets some education as well as the opportunity to purchase cannabis products for either medicinal or recreational uses. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

Ellen Bitters looks over different topical patches to help with knee pain in Long Beach on Monday, Apr. 8, 2019. About a dozen seniors from Leisure World took a field trip to Modern Buds dispensary to gets some education as well as the opportunity to purchase cannabis products for either medicinal or recreational uses. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)



Leisure World resident Ellen Bitters, 76, makes her purchase of tablets and a stick-on patch for her knee pain in Long Beach on Monday, Apr. 8, 2019. About a dozen seniors from Leisure World took a field trip to Modern Buds dispensary to gets some education as well as the opportunity to purchase cannabis products for either medicinal or recreational uses. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

Seniors head back to their bus to head home to Seal Beach after cannabis shopping in Long Beach on Monday, Apr. 8, 2019. About a dozen seniors from Leisure World took a field trip to Modern Buds dispensary to gets some education as well as the opportunity to purchase cannabis products for either medicinal or recreational uses. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

After their trip to Modern Buds, seniors head back home to Leisure World in Seal Beach on Monday, Apr. 8, 2019. About a dozen seniors from Leisure World took a field trip to Modern Buds dispensary to gets some education as well as the opportunity to purchase cannabis products for either medicinal or recreational uses. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

The 76-year-old, who has the energy of a kid in a candy store while not appearing a day over 50, said she just wanted her arthritic body to be able to keep up with her mind.

“I’m praying to God to make it to 100, OK?” she said. “Since I don’t look (76 years old), God, please give me a knee that doesn’t feel it.”

Bitters was one of nine Leisure World seniors who boarded the bus to the Modern Buds cannabis dispensary in Long Beach. Although the company has long operated another shuttle from the Laguna Woods Village retirement community to its Bud and Bloom dispensary in Santa Ana, this was the first senior shuttle to visit the Long Beach shop, which opened in January.

As legal cannabis has proliferated throughout California, seniors have become more and more open to trying out something that has promised to soothe a swath of maladies, said Kandice Hawes, the dispensary’s director of community outreach. But first, she said, they have a lot to learn.

So along with a free ride to and from Modern Buds, the seniors got lunch and a seminar of sorts from some of the vendors who stock the shop with their CBD- and THC-laden wares.

Representatives from companies — including Marley Natural, Shelf-Life and Select — taught a crash course in Cannabis 101. One such lesson was the difference between CBD, which can alleviate inflammation without a high, and THC — which, with all of its psychoactive properties, can be better for pain management. Attendees also learned whether an edible, lotion or vaping product would be most appropriate to aid their specific afflictions.

Hawes said a beneficial side effect of the trips is that they get seniors talking with each other about how cannabis has helped them, which could pave the way for even more people who hadn’t considered the substance before to find some relief of their own.

For Bitters, a skin patch that could help ease her arthritis caught her eye, while a tablet that dissolves in the mouth seemed worth trying. For a grand total of $74, she bought some of each. If they work as promised, Bitters said, she could wind up saving a fortune. Right now, she estimated, she spends $300 to $400 per month on pain management.

“Besides the hemp CBD, I am using a liquid collagen, Osteo ProCare and other supplements,” she said, “and I feel like, if I have to spend this money, I better get something that really helps.”

Bitters even began looking into stem cell therapy, but decided, after hearing so many raves about cannabis products, she should give that a try first.

For another cannabis newbie, Ruby Imam, 75, the trip was a way to find something, anything, that could lull her into a good night’s sleep.

“I deal with nightmares,” she said. “They can get really bad.”

She walked away with a pair of boxes of flavored gummies that she hoped would do the trick.

Even though enjoying some pot, whether medicinal or not, is perfectly legal as far as the state is concerned, many who attended the field trip said it’s still an issue discussed in Leisure World more with winks than in open conversation.

For Bitters, that wasn’t a concern.

“I just don’t want to feel old,” she said. “Sometimes I need a cane, but I still never think of myself as old.”

Stigma or not, she said, her newly purchased patches and tablets could be the gateway to bringing her body into full compliance with her mindset.

And that, for her, would be worth opening up about.