we are anarchist activists sisters our
goal is to have weed nuns in every city
and town across the planet hi I'm Jackie
this is the story of how I spent a week
with wheat nuns in the middle of
California and I only accepted 30% of
the joints that were offered I'm not an
over-the-top weed enthusiast or anything
but I love meeting badass people
committed to living life on their own
terms that's why I'm on my way to meet a
woman known as sister Kate sister Kate
is the charismatic founder of Sisters of
the valley a woman led business that
crafts medicine out of cannabis
she started it in 2014 and by 2016 she
was making $60,000 each month thing is
cannabis commerce is technically illegal
in Merced County police cruise around
and rip plants by the time we have to
walk a very very fine clean line here
pay every cent of taxes no cash sales
and I know that if we would give him a
reason they would shut us down
sister Kate is the most fascinating
human being I've ever met in my entire
life
she is such a kind-hearted person but at
the same time kind of a gangster a
little bit
she and her cannabis crusading activist
sisters aren't clone quote real nuns and
they don't claim to be we are not at all
patterned after Catholic nuns or the
Catholic Church or affiliated in any way
with a man-made or contemporary religion
we've patterned ourselves after the big
wings the big wings came before the
first Catholic nun they work together
they prayed together they dressed alike
to identify their Enclave and they were
have farmers just take what you need out
of your person lock lock it up doesn't
exactly complement your outfit
sister Kate sister Cass and sister Freya
are in Merced to pick up payment from
their first wholesale client a head shop
downtown so what am I going to oh you're
gonna end up owing 121 night even though
Sisters of the valley makes Medicine out
of cannabis the cannabis they grow is
non psychoactive so the weed that
they're growing isn't gonna get you high
it's not high in THC but what it does
have is CBD the aspirin like chemical
compound that treats pain and this
should be everything that you asked for
all right we can go buy some white
blouses Desiree what about this one for
making medicine the ones where we
splashing and throw away sister Kate was
born
Christine music thank you have a nice
day
originally from Wisconsin she lived for
eight years in Amsterdam while working
as a business consultant and needless to
say she doesn't really fit in here it's
not her scene well you have to
understand I worked in London Stockholm
and in Denmark and so I think that it's
about as ugly and as crude as you can
imagine it's unfinished to me the whole
place is unfinished but not everybody
feels this way about Merced California
I was born and raised here out of Gary
I've seen this talent real well like
anywhere else we've got our problems but
we're a town of good people it's always
been kind of run down a boring place to
be and a very poverty-stricken place to
be as a kid I didn't know that there was
anything else
if you've never been to the big
breadbasket middle of California before
just know that it is strikingly
different in the state's northern and
southern parts this is not the
California with the beaches and the the
tech stuff this is a place built on
agriculture or 25% of the population
lives in poverty violent gang activity
here revolves around prostitution and
drugs
way less chill than weed law enforcement
is reportedly overwhelmed underpaid and
facing high turnover education rates
like way behind state averages and
there's just nothing for kids to do that
turns bored kids into criminals anybody
who's smart teaches their children keep
your head down don't talk to anybody
here go to school and get out this is
not a nice place cannabis Commerce is
changing that legalizing cannabis
commerce would mean economic opportunity
and hope for generations living in
poverty and incarceration here in the
Central Valley California legalized
medicinal marijuana quite some time ago
but there are still tons of local
restrictions that have made it
impossible for a cannabis industry to
really thrive here plus there's still
plenty of people in jail for minor weed
related charges on November 8th 2016 the
people of California changed that sort
of Proposition 64 immense the state
Criminal Code to allow adults 21 and
over to possess a personal amount of
marijuana
and to grow up to six mature plants at
home but this bill leaves a lot out
despite widespread availability and
growing acceptability California
residents still have to fight to frame
marijuana as a medicine and a cash crop
it's not like we all wake up one morning
and go yeah nothing wrong with marijuana
let's make it legal and it happens in my
opinion at a grassroots level it doesn't
happen in the halls of Congress that
doesn't happen in the halls of city
government or county government
it happens on the street level it's
really more a war between an over
controlling abusive pharmaceutical and
medical environment that's got our whole
government rigged into it the FDA and so
forth so it's for us it's an activist
protests we don't take pills and this is
our day-to-day medicine I'm not a
follower of the movement per se but I do
believe in civil liberties I think that
they should be free to live whatever
life they choose to live and that's why
I feel so good about being out here and
come on and then have a seat over next
to sister Freya we'll start with a
little prayer and I brought some sage
over and I think I have a lighter and
whether God has put a blessing on these
hands that work the medicine today I
think those women keep connected with
their ancient ancestors and with the
medicine making work that they do
together
let them heal and carry the healing of
and the power of this plant based
medicine and their mission to the people
amen I brought all the women together to
show them how to trim you can see I'm
trying not to cut on the actual bud but
around the bud but get all these sticks
and all the pears and when we're done
this is what is considered dispensary
quality that's what we want because when
we take it in there if it needs more
trimming the price drops most of these
women have not been through a harvest
and we've got significant CBD crap
drying in our shop that needs to
come in women have taken the brunt of
all poverty in all countries anywhere
you see poverty women are suffering more
from it than men this order is about
making honorable jobs for women our Holy
Trinity is spiritualism servitude and
activism the servitude is our medicine
making and the activism is to change the
laws so that they're more equitable for
everyone sister Kate leads a revolving
cast of workers that has grown steadily
since 2014
this is sister Anne well I was in Los
Angeles and I was just tired of the city
and the crazy life and there were you
cannot really sleep because of
helicopters and then sirens from the
firewalker of the police and it's just
no peaceful sound of the birds like
right now I came across sister Kate on
the internet and a night afraid that she
was working with medical marijuana and I
was impressed by the commentaries of the
customer saying they were healed by the
medicines and I sent her a message I
came to visit and I liked it so I
decided to move it's fun I like it's
like a very intelligent plant that is
totally connected with us who can heal
this better than our Creator God and
mother nature she knows the recipe
[Music]
oh wow oh why well up you you
concentrate or double the concentrate so
that went from four ounces to eight
ounces and then these are the two
strains that I think we should use for
now just for our first batch and then
I've got mr. Clair working on my
calculator so I can do so I can start to
mix in some of these higher ones this is
up here bud
so three ounces should be good and then
we're just gonna up the concentrator yes
and we're doubling the concentration
it's sort of an experimental batch to
see what happens magic intuition magic
one of the sisters most popular products
is the sap sister cake gave me a jar and
it is in fact amazing here's how to make
it they melt a ton of coconut oil and
crock pots save eight full let that do
its thing to be back in a second all
this weed remember this week has been
dried cured and placed in this
refrigerator sister Freya grinds it
measures it out and stirs it in the oil
along with essential oils like lavender
and calendula then they package it up
let it solidify and sell it online
they've got customers all over the world
our customers are Republicans Democrats
tall people short people suffering is
very democratic sister Ann and her
seven-year-old son have been waiting
weeks to move into their new apartment
the apartment manager is reluctant to
rent a sister Ann because she works with
cannabis I know it's difficult because
your mom of teenagers and you don't want
them to get into something that would
destroy this right and for sports and
for what you want your kids to grow to I
absolutely understand how you feel and
you know have to worry because I have a
son and I want the same for him thank
you have a nice thing
since I go you work with the sisters of
the valley and she's like I don't like
people that's my way yeah and she's like
I don't know wait sister Kate had to get
involved to secure Ann's housing at this
point she's used to convincing people
that our workers aren't up to anything
fishy and she's plenty of documentation
to prove it I also wanted to let you
know that the precedent has already been
set in courts in California the landlord
cannot be responsible you don't have to
worry about it with sister Ann because
she doesn't smoke anyway she just came
here to work in the business my point is
you there we wouldn't want to dream of
putting you at risk and if you ever look
at our website which is sisters of the
valley org
you can see that we ship our products
all around the world
and we would not be able to do that we
use the post office and we use regular
banking systems and I will provide the
report from the sheriff's department as
well as the permits that I do have if
that will satisfy you okay okay well
then she's gonna be bringing those to
you this afternoon
thank you sister and struggle is just
one example of how weed is still
vilified and misunderstood by many and
it just doesn't make any sense to me
long before Jesus Christ was even a dude
people have been using cannabis to treat
many many ailments including addiction
recovery anxiety chronic pain seizures I
could go on this should serve to prove
that it is medicine and that's what
sister Kate is really out to convince
people of we're sort of asking the whole
world all the women to participate in
just growing the non psychoactive
cannabis and daring the law to shut us
down we come from the goddess and to her
we shall we turn like a drop of rain
into the
Oshin mother Gaia bless the people that
work the land restore them now give them
rest in peace as they've all worked very
very hard to make this happen to bring
the crop in and a toy lever the plants
in a sacred manner and to follow the
principles of The Sisterhood it's not
easy being an outsider in a small town
and it's certainly not easy to organize
for social change and then turn that
into legislation but it's worth it
sister Kate is changing the way that
people think about cannabis and I
couldn't be more hi I mean probably now
we want to know what you think let us
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