This month, I will be sharing about a few women who have impacted the industry in their unique way. A common theme with these women is their love for plant-based medicine and using it alongside cannabis. They see cannabis as a tool that can work well with other plants and herbs that are available to us.
Judi Nelson - Sol Spirit Farms
Judi Nelson is both an outdoor regenerative farmer and an owner of Sol Spirit Farm & Retreats with her husband based in Trinity, CA. She first started as a physical therapist and it has led her to grow in cannabis as it’s been a tool for finding relief. Her main focus is on sustainability as she educates on how being sustainable can help fight climate change. It is about being more conscious of our daily actions and how they affect the planet. Because of this focus, the farm uses sustainable and compostable packing for its cannabis along with using regenerative farming practices. In regards to the “Retreat” aspect, Sol Spirit provides glamping packages that feature farm-to-table meals, a cozy tent with towels and linens, farm tours, and various outdoor activities. I have yet to experience this, but I know it’ll be quite the experience as I have heard raving reviews from past guests.
In addition to this, she is also a Certified Ganjier, a Board Member of Willow Creek Cannabis Alliance, and an international public speaker ranging from topics of regenerative farming, cannabis and chronic pain, and sustainability in the cannabis industry.
Judi attended Marquette University to earn her degree in physical therapy.
Their main contribution to the cannabis industry is bringing to light how important sustainability is and the relief it can bring to their whole body.
Riley D Kirk - The Network of Applied Pharmacognosy
Riley is a natural product chemist who earned her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Rhode Island. In 2016 she graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Biomedical Science with a minor in Environmental Conservation Studies. Her undergrad work focused on teaching middle school students about agriculture and permaculture. For her grad work, she studied hundreds of medicinal plants to evaluate their modern and traditional uses which created an extract library of these plants. There was also screening done against different points including seeing how they worked against bacterial resistance.
In the past year Riley co-founded a non-profit with her friend Miyabe called The Network of Applied Pharmacognosy (NAP)—the non-profit works to study cannabis products by studying patients and consumers. NAP conducted a study that started near the end of last year to gauge cannabis users from what time and how much they use. (I was one of the many participants who signed up.) She started her IG/ TikTok account Cannabichem to share cannabis knowledge. The content ranges from breaking down studies that are coming out to industry myths to general cannabis knowledge. From there, she created her podcast called Bioactive podcast last year which is now in its 2nd season. Riley started the podcast by talking about finding quality CBD products and the importance of using other medicinal plants as it’s good to have a mix of those too. She has had episodes that not only cover cannabis but also topics like cheese and DMT. Throughout her podcast episodes, she has talked about plant-based medicine and how it is important to understand and use it alongside prescribed medicine. There have been guests who have given their two cents on this and how they’ve discussed it with their patients. She is currently based in New Hampshire.
Maureen "Mo" Smyth, BSN RN - Cannabis Public School
Mo is a Cannabis Nurse Educator who became fascinated by cannabinoids and their interaction with the body as she reflected on her tenured career in nursing. Mo focuses on advocating for therapeutic, adult-use products, dosing, and proper selection of products. Plant-based medicine is also one of her focuses; she believes it can be helpful along with traditional modern medicine.
She has been hosting Cannabis Public School via Zoom on Sundays since March 2022. The mission of Cannabis Public School is to ensure that everyone across America has accurate information about the holistic benefits and potential risks of cannabis. These Zoom classes started off doing a study group using the Big Book of Terps and have since gone on to discuss various topics and guests on the calls. Each month she focuses on one aspect of cannabis to talk about including industry experts, the health and wellness of cannabis, and important trends.
Mo has collaborated with other cannabis health specialists to keep the conversation going about how cannabis has a whole spectrum of compounds besides THC. She has done consultations, taught minor cannabinoid protocols, and how non-smokable products as alternatives to smoking.
One of her most recent achievements has been speaking to healthcare professionals at the San Francisco VA about the importance of having clinically-based cannabis conversations with their patients. Mo will be presenting this research at the CannMed conference in May 2024. Join Mo at Cannabis Public School on March 24th for a special guest speaker, Dr. Bonni Goldstein.
Conclusion-
I hope you enjoyed reading about some pivotal women in the cannabis space for this year’s Women’s History Month. Here’s to the growth of more women in this space as we are more than deserving to run this flowering industry. (pun intended) If there are any other topics, you would like me to cover for The Canna Boss Babes, comment below!