A group of nuns who denounced Christ and sell cannabis to help the needy say they are defying President Trump to sell even more.
The Sisters of the Valley are California’s self-ordained feminist ‘weed nuns’, are on a mission to heal and empower women with their cannabis products.
Based near the town of Merced in the 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 cannabis plants.
The sisters insist they aren’t scared by President Trump’s stance on drugs – in fact, quite the opposite they are expanding in spite of him.
The group had roughly $750,000 (£58,000) in sales last year, the most since it started selling products in January 2015.
President Donald Trump’s administration and his Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a longtime critic of marijuana legalisation, have worried some in the country’s nascent legalised marijuana industry.
Sister Eevee, carries hemp (Picture: Reuters)
But the ‘weed nuns’ in the Sisters of the Valley commune say the controversial new president and his administration has strengthened their resolve.
‘The thing Trump has done for us is put a fire under our butts to get launched in another country,’ said Kate.
She added: ‘Our response to Trump is Canada.’
Currently, the group makes online sales to Canada, and they hope to expand and launch an operation there in two months.
Sister Eevee carries hemp (Picture: Reuters)
Weed nun Desiree Calderon, who goes by the name Sister Freya (L), and India Delgado, who goes by the name Sister Eevee, smoke a joint (Picture: Reuters)
Sister Kate adopted the nun persona after she took part in an Occupy Wall Street protest in 2011 dressed as a Catholic nun.
Her costume led her to be known by protesters as ‘Sister Occupy’.
The sisterhood also stress that its seven members, despite the moniker, do not 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,’ said 58-year-old Sister Kate, who founded the sisterhood in 2014.
Despite posing as a religius group, Kate adds they’ve not really received much citicism.
‘We’ve gotten a few hate calls but, by and far, the Catholics understand what we’re doing, she said.
California weed nun Desiree Calderon, who goes by the name Sister Freya, holds CBD salve made from hemp at Sisters of the Valley near Merced, California (Picture: Reuters)
They sell a whole lot of weed (Picture: Reuters)