From Stigma To Style: How Cannabis Influencer TC Shakes Up The Weed Consumer's Image

By Enrique D. Fernández via El Planteo

The initials "TC" stand for the pseudonym used by Tomás Cott, an influencer who defines himself as a content creator aiming to completely eradicate the decades-long bad reputation labeling cannabis consumers. He challenges the condemning gaze that brands them merely as drug addicts lounging all day on a couch.

Through his social networks, we can witness the daily life of a smoker who engages in the same activities as the average person (eating breakfast, going for walks, shopping, cleaning the bathroom and so forth), but with the addition of lighting up a joint in between. Just as he has done since he took his first puff of that initial roll.

"I was born in 1995, and my first joint was at 14, so it was obviously brick weed [prensado], because that's what was available at the time. I used to hang out with a friend who would always talk to me about weed and said that I had to try it. I remember it was at a park; the first time I didn't feel a thing. The next day, I tried the same brick weed again and ended up on Jupiter."

From that interplanetary joint started the cult of marijuana as a lifestyle for TC, who gradually discovered the pleasures and benefits of the plant. It was a world of sensations and learnings that shaped his social experiences and fueled his desire for a future in 420 mode 24/7.

"Back then, nobody knew what brick weed was. It was just weed, period. It wasn't until three years later that I discovered real buds. Not by buying them, but by growing them. My friend Facu Vargas grew his first Moby Dick on an outdoor balcony without any care; we just planted the seed and watched it grow every day. Today, with a bit more knowledge, I can say that grow was a miracle," he asserts with a laugh.

Dad, Mom: I Smoke Weed

Beyond the street's lessons was a family environment that always supported the decision to smoke weed responsibly. TC makes it clear from the get-go that his parents "were always super open about the topic of marijuana" and never preached to him about the use of drugs and alcohol. Even after both parents found out their son smoked following a run-in with the law.

"On a school trip, I decided to bring a 35-gram block of brick weed. And, eagerly, the first thing I do in the hotel room is smoke a joint. The thing in Bariloche [an Argentine city that is often chosen by teens for the prom trips] is that the police check one hotel per night, and I had the bad luck of them coming to mine that day. I was really high when the police started knocking on the door, they entered, and the smell was tremendous. They told me to hand everything over or they would open a case against me. To my mind back then, it was death. When I returned, my parents told me not to be foolish and to smoke something good because I have lung problems. To this day, I smoke weed with both of them."

It wasn't long before a young TC decided to set up an amateur indoor grow to stop spending so much money on weed and invest in his own little cannabis field to reap large rewards.

"At 25, I started with my first indoor grow. It was with my cousin, and we did everything by hand. We didn't want to buy grow tents because they were too expensive, so we went to a lumber yard and used my mom's gazebo. On the front, used velcro and inside a black tarp with reflective material. We drilled an iron sheet to pass the cables through. It provided light for 6 plants, and we had 3 harvests. In the first batch, we got Black Jack and AK 47 weed," recounts an excited TC.

Argentina, Land of Opportunities

The grower persona helped give the final push to take social networks by storm and pour his lifestyle as a purpose to spread the true concept of the cannabis philosophy. Although love and care for the plants remain a constant for the YouTuber, when it comes to defining his concerns, he considers himself more a communicator of the green universe than a distinguished provider.

"As a grower, I'm a newbie, but in Argentina, we have figures like Mau Lamonica who had it tough. They were treated as if they were dealing drugs. When we found out about REPROCANN [Argentina's medical cannabis registry], we rushed to do it, and it's really a great thing. Although the law doesn't fully protect us, the fact that we can grow and give our crop to a club seems fantastic to me."

Thus began the first trips to horizons where weed has a different reputation, forever changing the perspective of the star influencer when it comes to defending the national harvest.

"When I went to countries where it's legal, I encountered a lot of things. You have places like Uruguay where it's legal but they don't have dispensaries. It's only suitable for those who have a license. But the openness and the fact that you can smoke your medicine in front of a police officer is an achievement. In Barcelona, I felt the same: they have many clubs, but the law doesn't protect you. You can have it at home but not in the street, which doesn't make sense because you have to transport it," he shares with some indignation.

The South Stands Tall

TC highlights his homeland as an unparalleled seedbed of growers and defenders of marijuana, capable of standing alongside industry giants like California and the Netherlands.

"An Argentine grower has nothing to envy from one in California. If our country had the same resources they have there, we'd sweep the board. In Los Angeles, I was shocked by how advanced the industry is, from understanding cannabis as a product. You enter a dispensary and have all kinds of medicines. There, you can buy medicinal gummies for your grandmother. The difference is enormous."

—When did your networks start to set the trend compared to other influencers who raise the flag of the joint and only base their content on the 420 lifestyle?

—People identify with my content because I started to represent those who consume cannabis without being the typical stoner that was sold to us everywhere. My main content is not the plant, but how a daily cannabis consumer immerses in a normal life, besides bringing cannabis to those with prejudice and making them understand that it can be like trying wine. The idea is to bring someone who might use it to replace alcohol, pills, or cigarettes closer. I want to completely blow away the stereotype of the drug addict.

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This article is from an external unpaid contributor. It does not represent Benzinga's reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.