Sisters of the Valley is a small business that sells cannabidiol tinctures, cannabidiol infused oil, and cannabidiol salves, for oral and topical use, made with ethanol and coconut oil, via their website and the craft e-commerce website Etsy. It is based in Merced, California, and its proprietors follow a monastic motif.
| Location | California's Central Valley[1] |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 2015[1] |
| Owner | Christine Meeusen[2] |
| Number of tenants | 3[1] |
History
editIn 2015, the sales of the Sisters of the Valley's CBD products reached $6,000,000.[3] Early on the business, the company was banned from advertising on Facebook, and started focusing its communications effort on PR.[4]
In 2017, the sales of the CBD-related products reached $25.1 million.[4]
Description
editFollowing practices of biodynamic agriculture, workers regulate their operations by the cycles of the moon, starting two-week production intervals upon the new moon, during which time they also practice chastity and vegetarianism.[5][6]
The owner and "lead Sister" Christine Meeusen, who does not identify with Christianity, considers the production to be a spiritual activity,[7] whose rituals and incorporate New Age practices and environmentalism,[8] borrowing from "Native American" practices.[9] Meeusen also mentions the Beguines to refer to her business' philosophy.[4][10]
The members wear religious habits and refer to each other as sisters, but claim no affiliation with a religious order.[11]
Business Insider calls the Sisters of the Valley nuns "the most talked-about women in the pot business".[9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d Ciani, Corrine (25 December 2021). "Meet the Weed Nuns: Our Ladies of the Perpetual High". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
When we visit, five women live in the home: Sister Kate, 62; Sister Sophia, 49; Sister Quinn, 25; and at the moment, Sister Luna and Sister Camilla, both 34, who are visiting from Mexico. Sister Kass, 29, lives off the property with her two children and her partner, Brother Rudy, the collective's crop manager...Fifteen months later, she made a Weed Nuns Facebook page; she soon amassed 5,000 followers. In 2015, one of those adherents landed on her doorstep, declaring she would work for free. ...'Huh, if four of us lived together and made medicine together, we could share our Netflix bill and I wouldn't have to give up cable'...'We are in our seventh year of operations'...'10 people working on a one-acre farm'
- ^ Barnett, Angela (12 April 2019). "Sister Act: Meet the weed nuns 'who are dealers'". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
At 56, the mother of three was homeless and broke after her husband turned out to be a polygamous fraudster who siphoned their substantial earnings (which she had earned) into foreign bank accounts. Then her brother kicked her out of the home they shared and the weed-growing business they had forged together...."To stay legal we have to hide the evidence that this is medicine. The FDA would shut us down if we were making claims in the same place where we're selling." She has two websites to deal with this.
- ^ "An uncanny mixture: God, alcohol and even cannabis". BBC News. 26 October 2016.
- ^ a b c "Sisters of the Valley: The Nuns Whose Religion is Cannabis".
- ^ Chavie Lieber (April 20, 2016), "A Higher Purpose Sister Kate and Sister Darcy aren't real nuns, but they do want to save you — with weed", Racked.com, Vox Media
- ^ Lisa Gutierrez (April 25, 2016), "Catholic nun offended by women dressing as nuns, selling pot", The Sacramento Bee
- ^ "California Bureaucrats Want Nuns to Stop Producing Marijuana Products", The Liberator, Advocates for Self-Government, January 5, 2016
- ^ Wong, Julia Carrie (2016-01-25). "Cannabis-growing 'nuns' grapple with California law: 'We are illegal'". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
- ^ a b Melia Robinson (April 4, 2016), "These nuns are the most talked-about women in the pot business", Business Insider
- ^ "Cannabidiol Products". Sunday, June 21, 2020
- ^ 08.02 EST (2016-02-17). "Cannabis-growing 'nuns' grapple with California law: 'We are illegal' | US news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Further reading
edit- http://www.racked.com/2016/4/20/11459612/sisters-of-the-valley-weed-nuns
- http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/24/sister-kate-the-vegan-pot-loving-feminist-behind-etsy-s-cannabidiol-shop.html
- https://www.wired.com/2016/04/shaughn-crawford-john-dubois-sisters-of-the-valley/
- https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/nuns-growing-cannabis-online-shop-7641688
- https://nypost.com/2016/02/09/these-nuns-will-get-you-high-as-heaven/
- http://www.newsweek.com/california-nuns-seek-protection-their-cannabis-business-412062
- http://www.foxla.com/news/local-news/233313925-story
