Strawberry Cough

Leafly Rating: 4.1

Strawberry Cough combines the Strawberry Fields strain with Haze genetics to create a potent sativa blend. The skunky, berry flavors will capture your senses while the cerebral, uplifting effects provide an aura of euphoria that is sure to leave a smile on your face. Strawberry Cough has been a popular strain since medical and recreational decriminalization began, so it’s easy to find in dispensaries. This will quickly become your go-to strain to overcome creative obstacles.

Chocolope

Leafly Rating: 4.2

DNA Genetics developed Chocolope by crossing Chocolate Thai with Cannalope. The hefty sativa buds give earthy, sweet coffee flavors that provide a dreamy, cerebral effect. Chocolope is your morning or dessert coffee and smoke rolled into one mocha-flavored blunt. It’s also a great strain to blend with tobacco for a quick spliff.

Moby Dick

Leafly Rating: 4.0

Moby Dick is a cross between indica-dominant hybrid White Widow and sativa Haze, creating a mostly sativa plant that delivers a charged buzz. The aroma is a sweet citrus from the Haze, which dominates the palate with vanilla and eucalyptus tones. Named for the literary whale, Moby Dick isn’t a myth you have to hunt – it’s the motorized, GPS-enabled submarine you’re hunting it in.

Maui Waui

Leafly Rating: 4.1

Maui Waui (or Maui Wowie) is a classic sativa straight from the shores of Hawaii. Lightweight sativa effects allow your mind to drift away to creative escapes, while Maui Waui’s motivating, active effects may be all you need to get outside and enjoy the sun. The first marijuana strain I ever smoked, Maui Waui is the perfect meditative bud to get you focused on creating a space in the world around you.

Lamb’s Bread

Leafly Rating: 4.3

Also called “Lamb’s Breath,” Lamb’s Bread is a bright green and sticky sativa strain. The effects have been known to give mass amounts of energy and positive introspection. Even Bob Marley encountered this wonderful slice of cannabis genealogy while exploring his philosophical and political ideologies. Lamb’s Bread is one of my favorite fast-thinking smokes to get the mind revved up and thinking.

Sour Diesel

Leafly Rating: 4.2

Sour Diesel, or Sour D, is an invigorating sativa named after its pungent, diesel-like aroma. This fast-acting strain delivers energizing, dreamy cerebral effects that have pushed Sour Diesel to legendary status. Many writers, musicians, and artists use Sour D to push beyond the walls of creative blocks, and it can have the same effect on you, if you’re over 21 and living in the right place.

Laughing Buddha

Leafly Rating: 4.3

Laughing Buddha is an earthy cross between Thai and Jamaican strains with a sweet, fruity smell broken up by hints of spice. It provides a rich, pungent smoke. As the name implies, the strain will leave you feeling giggly, so humor writers will enjoy smoking Laughing Buddha most while writing. Writers in other genres, however, will likely only need it for brainstorming.

Willie Nelson

Leafly Rating: 4.1

Willie Nelson is a mostly sativa cannabis strain lauded for its euphoric, creative effects. This strain leaves you clear-headed, allowing you to perform artistically the way you want. There’s nothing worse than hitting that mental wall you can’t overcome. A walk will clear your head, as will a quick meditation and yoga break, but to prepare for all of it, you need Willie Nelson.

Mexican Sativa

Leafly Rating: 3.0

Mexican Sativa is a 70/30 sativa-dominant hybrid that offers an uplifting, clear-headed buzz alongside a fresh sandalwood aroma. Being raised on the Mexico/Arizona border, Mexican dirt weed was all we had to smoke back in the day. Though filled with stems and seeds, and not nearly as potent as today’s strains, Mexican Sativa inspired nearly everything creative I wrote from my late teens to mid-20’s.

Green Crack

Leafly Rating: 4.1

Few strains compare to Green Crack’s sharp energy and focus as it induces an invigorating mental buzz that keeps you going throughout the day. With a tangy, fruity flavor redolent of mango, Green Crack is the perfect daytime smoke for writers looking for a creative boost. This strain will get your brain going, but don’t worry about the name – there’s no cocaine or baking soda anywhere near it, and there is no spoon.

If you need a long-term creative boost, you’re not going to find it in drugs. Working in the creative arts requires you to be a little unhinged, but if you’re fueled by substances, you’ll end up on the wrong path. For short-term help with creative projects, there’s no better natural and organic substance than cannabis. So head to your nearest dispensary, caregiver, or street dealer to find out if they have any of these strains in stock.

Brian Penny is a former Business Analyst and Operations Manager at Bank of America turned whistleblower, freelance writer, and troll. Penny has been featured on Huffington Post, Lifehack, The Street, Cannabis Now, and Hardcore Games.