Saturday, May 09, 2020

FOTO ESSAY'S
California's 'weed nuns' on a mission to heal with cannabis
The "Sisters of the Valley," California's self-ordained "weed nuns," are on a mission to heal and empower women with their cannabis product

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'Joint-smoking nuns
Based near the town of Merced in California's Central Valley, which produces over half of the fruit, vegetables and nuts grown in the United States, the Sisters of the Valley grow and harvest their own plants - cannabis plants.

Weed Nuns Marihuana Nonnen (Reuters/L.Nicholson)
No halo
Despite the moniker, the nuns don't belong to any order of the Catholic Church. "We're against religion, so we're not a religion. We consider ourselves Beguine revivalists, and we reach back to pre-Christian practices," says Sister Kate, who founded the sisterhood in 2014.

Kalifornien Nonnen verarbeiten Marihuana (Reuters/L. Nicholson)
From 'Sister Occupy' to 'weed nun'
Sister Kate adopted the nun persona after she took part in an Occupy Wall Street protest in 2011 dressed as a Catholic nun, a look that led her to be known by protesters as "Sister Occupy."

The group's Holy Trinity is marijuana
Sister Freya ladles cannabidiol salve made from hemp. CBD, the abbreviation for cannabidiol, has analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety properties. The nuns explain that hemp, a strain of marijuana, has very low levels of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound in the plant.

For the sake of well-being
Members turn the hemp into cannabis-based balms and ointments, which they say have the power to improve health and well-being. Sister Kate reports that the group had roughly $750,000 (€700,000) in sales last year, the most since it started selling products in January 2015.

Kalifornien Nonnen verarbeiten Marihuana (Reuters/L. Nicholson)
Critics of marijuana legalization won't stop the nuns
President Donald Trump's administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a longtime critic of marijuana legalization, have worried some in the country's nascent legalized marijuana industry. But the "weed nuns" say the new administration has strengthened their resolve.

Kalifornien Nonnen verarbeiten Marihuana (Reuters/L. Nicholson)
Critics of marijuana legalization won't stop the nuns
President Donald Trump's administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a longtime critic of marijuana legalization, have worried some in the country's nascent legalized marijuana industry. But the "weed nuns" say the new administration has strengthened their resolve.

Salvation in Canada
"The thing Trump has done for us is put a fire under our butts to get launched in another country," says Sister Kate. "Our response to Trump is Canada." The group makes online sales to Canada, and hopes to launch an operation there in two months.

Italian Army grow cannabis for medical purposes
Cannabis cures: Italy launches a pilot project for domestic production of cannabis to become independent from Dutch imports and meet the demand for medical cannabis.
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Person looking at cannabis plants
(Getty images/AFP/F. Monteforte)
Cannabis-based medicine is produced by the Italian Army at
Stabilimento Chimico Farmaceutico Militare in Florence.


Italy military building (Getty images/AFP/F. Monteforte)
Military project
The production of cannabis is just one of the activities of the military's 164-year-old chemical and pharmaceutical institute. The body prides itself on the fact that its cannabis was registered as a pharmaceutical product by Italy's medicines agency in September 2015. The end product is very different from most of the cannabis consumed around the world.


Cannabis plant (Getty images/AFP/F. Monteforte)
Less THC, more CBD
The component that gets recreational users high - tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - is less useful to doctors than another active ingredient, the anti-inflammatory cannabidiol (CBD). An estimated 2,000 -3,000 Italians currently use medical cannabis for instance to relieve multiple sclerosis pain and spasticity or combat nausea after chemotherapy.


"I have never tried it!"
"No, I have never tried it, and I don't have any intention of trying it either," says Antonio Medica, the colonel in charge of the Italian military's cannabis laboratory in Florence. He laughs that one of his colleagues joked the other day, saying they spent 40 years trying to stop the troops smoking it in the barracks and "now we are producing it ourselves'."


Suiting up for the growing room
Production in a sterile, sealed environment is very important. "That is the only way you can ensure a consistent product and one free from the toxic materials, particularly heavy metals like mercury, that the plants can easily absorb when grown in fields," Medica explains.


Relief for cancer patients
The German parliament In January 2017 voted unanimously in a landmark bill to legalize the use of medical marijuana, for instance ot help cancer patients feeling nauseaous after chemotherapy. The drug is also said to help fight a lack of appetite and weight loss in tumor patients, and can alleviate symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Italien Militär baut Cannabis für Schwerkranke an (Getty images/AFP/F. Monteforte)
Made in Italy
Above, a pharmacist prepares a prescription of marijuana in the laboratories. The first batches of made-in-Italy pot have just arrived in pharmacies.

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