Be sweet, little Honey — that’s the nickname given to Reagan Moore by people close to her. She has the first half of that phrase tattooed on her as a reminder of who she is and to honor the lessons in humility and generosity passed down from her late grandmother.
“Everyone called her Honey because she was so sweet,” she said. “She just wanted to give and take care of others, and I looked up to that.”
It took some time for Reagan to really find and grow into the woman she is now. Born and raised in Macon, Georgia, the 22-year-old said she felt isolated growing up in a city she described as a stopping point before getting to more populated areas like Atlanta or Savannah.
“There weren’t a lot of people who looked like me, so it was hard for me to really understand what it meant to be a Black woman growing up,” she said while crediting a former teacher with giving her advice on reaching her potential. “She taught me about how missed opportunities aren’t always on you … she was always a safe space when I lived in Georgia.”
Reagan has had Type 1 diabetes since she was 9. She said that as a kid, she didn’t know what diabetes was, and when she stayed in the hospital for extended testing, it was hard for her to understand what was happening. She said the diagnosis also led to self-confidence issues and low self-esteem, especially around her friends.
The embarrassment of taking medication in front of her friends, she said, led her to ignore her diagnosis, and she ended up back in the hospital with complications from a lack of treatment at age 11. After doctors explained the long-term consequences of not taking care of herself, she took the diagnosis more seriously and felt stronger for having survived that experience. “I grew up pretty fast because of that,” she said. “I had no choice.”
For Reagan, a normal day with Type 1 diabetes includes taking insulin multiple times a day and checking her blood sugar levels, a process that involves a sensor that sends updates to her phone every few minutes, alleviating the need to prick herself.
“You usually check your blood sugar at least five to six times a day, I do at least, because I want to be cautious,” she said, adding that her blood sugar levels fluctuate frequently and often peak and drop in the middle of the night.
Reagan and her family moved to Baltimore when she was 15, and within a few months, the new environment had grown on her despite carrying some resentment about picking up and moving to a new state. Compared to living in Macon, she said the fresh start inspired her to talk to people and try things she probably wouldn’t have before — one of them being Cannabis. In high school, she sat in on a few smoking sessions with friends but said she began using Cannabis more frequently in college.
“All of my friends smoked. I smoked a little bit, but not often,” she recalled. “I wish I could go back to that time. I used to get so high off half a blunt, sitting there laughing and screaming at things.”
Cannabis isn’t much of a factor in managing her diabetes, she said, aside from providing her with an appetite to keep her blood sugar steady. She described her Cannabis use as more of a remedy for her mental health, helping her combat anxiety, ADHD and bipolar disorder.
“I only take medication for bipolar disorder,” she said. “I don’t love medication. With smoking or eating an edible, that’s what eases and calms me.”
Preferring more indica-leaning strains with a good amount of myrcene or linalool, like GMO, she said she likes rolling up and smoking. More recently, she said she’s been taking small drops of a tincture after a recommendation from one of her regular customers, which she’s found helps calm her racing thoughts at night and makes it easier to fall asleep.
Reagan’s love for Cannabis led her to become a budtender in 2023 after deciding to pursue a different career path. That eventually led her to enroll as a patient in the state’s medical program.
Working as a budtender has many parallels to Reagan’s goal of becoming a teacher, specifically teaching math to middle school students. She initially attended West Virginia University as a nursing major but switched majors and transferred back home to Stevenson University as an education major. Inspired by her mother’s journey in the education field, Reagan said she has always loved school and wants to make the same impact her mother had in the classroom.
“I think math has a lot of subjects people shy away from, even in adulthood,” she said. “I really loved math, and being able to teach kids how to be a good mathematician would be super cool.”
Reagan has also expressed interest in becoming a therapist after meeting with a mental health specialist in high school. She said opening up to someone gave her a confidence boost, and she wants to provide that same experience to anyone she works with, whether as a budtender or an educator.
“I love being able to be a light for others,” she said. “I know when I have my own space, I want that to be a safe space — to be a teacher and a therapist, all in one.”
