A Ray of Sunshine: Sun Kissed Farms
A Radical Approach to Cannabis and Medicine
Blessed, or cursed, by the wealth of competing and often contradictory information that we’re allotted in the age of the internet, even medicine breeds mistrust. For better or worse, we’re all now forced to have insurance through privatized industries. Many prescriptions, if they’re even affordable, seem to have a myriad of side effects that often seem on par or worse than the symptoms they’re claiming to suppress. That’s the operative word, by the way: suppression. The pharmaceutical industry has no advantage in curing an ailment because that would decrease a customer base. Like cancer cells, business models such as these seem only to grow for the sake of growth, and rarely do we, consumers and citizenry, feel like our health care providers are actually serving us with care. However, as bleak as these skies seem, occasionally a little goodness manages to break through.
Sun Kissed Farms, a cannabis collective located in the heart of Humboldt County, is seeking to change this approach, leading by example as both provider and steward to the medicinal community. Their farms, almost completely off the grid by utilizing hydro and solar power from leasing solar panels and installing them around the property, are committed to providing only the finest medicine to their clients, dispensaries, and thereby, patients. Their commitment to being above board, across the board, is hardly limited to energy consumption (or lack thereof). During Autumn and Winter months their facilities are equipped to collect and store rain water in tanks for preservation during or dry, drought ridden summer months, never drawing water from rivers, only utilizing spring water rarely, and when absolutely necessary.
I sat down casually over coffee with the man who is the backbone of Sun Kissed Farms, Aaron Morales, and his two sweet, lovely, daughters to discuss, in particular, a CBD strain that their avidly perfecting known as ACDC. Sun Kissed discovered ACDC out of the Cannatonic strain of seeds. Sun Kissed didn’t invent the strain, but, due to it’s incredible ability to relieve pain with no adverse side effects, they seem to have taken it on as a major focal point for cultivation and perfecting, creating a product that’s entirely their own.
I asked Morales what his inspirations were for concentrating on these medicines, and he stated, with a passion and refreshing ignition in his eye, ‘‘In 2008 my oldest daughter was taking bio in high school, and then chromatography caught my mind, as I was on the upstart.’’ He continued, ‘‘It was already at the root of my mind, what the future would entail with these machines, and the future of this plant at large. It eventually occurred to me that we need to produce plants that are real actual medicine. So I went to go meet this doctor who is a part of the International Cannabinoid Research Society that actually studies this. So we get into a conversation about this and he started to tell me about these Euro plants that he’s been looking for, and juicing plants, and not decarboxilated plants. It’s non- psychoactive as a fresh plant, it has to be cured first to actually get one high. (Just to clarify, all cannabis is non-psychoactive when it is fresh and alive.) And that was it, the science. The science of it all is what has blown me away. As such, we’re purely focused on the medicinal properties. It’s made for pain relief, all of it, and, tapping into the bodies natural cannabinoids, it’s helped our clients bodies do better than what they’re already capable of doing. I believe that dried cannabis or decarboxilated cannabis is for immediate pain relief and that fresh non-decarboxilated cannabis is naturally designed to interact with multiple systems in our body to help stabilize homeostasis. The fresh plant is where real medicine lies, so that’s our focus.’’
Refreshingly, when I asked how Morales handled ownership from developing ACDC, he responded, ‘‘I gave it away to everyone I knew that was proliferating clones. I originally named it Inde, which in Apache, means ‘the people.’ The word Inde is the true name of the Apache tribe, the word Apache means ‘the enemy,’ and this name was appointed to them by the US government. I think all of these plants belong to us; this is the last commodity that someone, the business powers that be, doesn’t have complete control of. It’s our last stand to hold on to something, and we can all control and share it together.’’
Anonymity is often a major hurdle in situations such as these, even in completely above board operations such as this, when asked about it, Morales proudly said to me, ‘‘I’ll say whatever I wanna say, I’m not in hiding. It just got old for me, that’s not my scene. I’m here to provide medicine. A few labs wanted to buy it, and for me not to share it, they want to take it from us. But I told them ‘no.’ What they want is control, and that’s not what I’m here to provide. Again, I’m here to provide medicine.’’
Therein lies the rub. Other companies and corporate entities seeking to put the kibosh on operations like Sun Kissed Farms, or, worse, treat them as a sort of neo-spiritual voodoo. Sadly these entities control most of the money, and thereby have the power to influence any major publication for a price. However, at Sun Kissed, and at the Εμεραλδ, we take pride in being independent, allowing integrity and care to guide us. If you, or others you know are suffering from illness, you are implored to visit Sunkissedco.com, where all pertinent information is available to help you and yours get the medicine you need. We’re on our way to a greener world, one day at a time. Allow your dollar to do the talking for you by supporting local businesses to help create the society you want to live in. Keep it local, keep it caring, and get a kiss from the sun every once in a while.
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