From the Publisher

Welcome to the Summer issue of Cannabis by the Sea magazine!

It’s crazy to think we are already half way through the year! Time is flying by so quickly, it takes special effort to stop, take a deep breath and appreciate what and who I have in my life. But when I do, it’s overwhelming and makes me smile.

In this issue you will be introduced to an amazing woman, Sister Kate — the founder and force behind the Sisters of the Valley. We had the opportunity to not only interview Sister Kate on Episode 8 of our podcast, Cannabis Talk by the Sea, but also got to meet her and several members of her enclave as part of their “Green Tour” 2022. Sister Kate is a force of nature and one of a handful of women in my life that inspire me.

Her energy, enthusiasm and humor remind me so much of an incredibly dear friend of mine and one of the other women in that handful, who is suffering from ALS. As I grapple with the thought of not having this incredible woman in my life, I also am twisted with frustration over the fact that at some point when cannabis is finally legalized and clinical testing can fully be done, the discovery will be made that this amazing plant contained the treatment and maybe even the cure to this disease and so many more.

Remember though . . . as long as cannabis remains federally illegal, clinical testing cannot be done. In the meantime, the chronic overuse of opiods continues and is not only fully legal, but research continues on how to make more.

So, what do we do about it? Write to your elected officials, please! I know you hear that often and I know that it’s usually followed by a rolling of the eyes with a heavy sigh and probably a “yeah right” comment, and believe me, I completely get that response having been guilty of it myself. But nothing will change if we don’t tell those people — that we elected to speak for us — how we feel! It’s incredibly easy these days as all elected officials have email addresses, and they are all public. I’ll even give you the websites to find your officials:

To find your Senate representative: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm To find your Congressional representative: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

As always, thank you for your support of Cannabis by the Sea magazine . . . just by reading, you are supporting. We look forward to continuing to introduce you to more amazing people, and, of course, providing you with more information on this amazing plant that we call cannabis.

Keep in touch!

- Melinda Bie