The Revolution of Cannabis Culture
When lawmakers around the world began legalizing cannabis in the 2010s, it’s unlikely that they intended to spawn a revolution across creativity and health. The shift was subtle at first, but the transformation of cannabis continues to gain momentum today.
High on Design: The New Cannabis Culture, captures a snapshot of this exciting shift in creative cannabis culture through interviews, case studies, and examinations of the cultural relevance of cannabis throughout history.
The artistry of the new cannabis culture offered a radical rewrite of these ideas, reflecting the truth instead of a trope. Because the truth is, once legalization began, it didn’t take long before pot-smoking stereotypes started to shatter. If legal cannabis could look and feel friendly and appealing, it invited everyone in - longtime cannabis lovers, first-timers, the cannabis curious, and everyone in between. Read more about the creative and cultural shift in Designing a New Cannabis Culture.
(Photo: Heami Lee, Styling by Rebecca Bartoshesky, High on Design)
Not only has this change in cannabis culture brought with it a wave of creativity, but it has also sparked a wider debate around the beneficial effects of the plant on the human body. At the forefront of this debate is activist Christine Meeusen, otherwise known as Sister Kate.
Having lived in Amsterdam for 10 years, Meeusen returned Stateside with three children as the economy was showing signs of crumbling. Raged by banks being bailed out and the decision of the US Congress to classify pizza as a vegetable, she felt obliged to make a political statement. “If pizza was a vegetable, I was a nun. So I put on a nun outfit and started going out to protests, and the movement dubbed me ‘Sister Occupy’”. During this period she wanted to start a medicinal cannabis company that erased the negative stigma around the plant and united women who believed in its healing powers. Sister Kate was born, and alongside it, Sisters of the Valley.
Representing a new wave of cannabis culture, the Sisters of the Valley are committed to bringing medical marijuna into the light, refining interruptions of the herbal leaf and how it can positively affect the human body. Read more about her story in Weed Nuns On A Mission To Heal.
(Photo: Soraya Matos, Sisters of the Valley)
On 4/20, perhaps the most important thing we can learn from the history of cannabis and its ongoing legalization is that we must rely on community efforts, activism, and education to meaningfully normalize the plant. If you’re a person who is interested in cannabis and have the privilege of being open about it, please do so - even if it’s something as simple as keeping High On Design on your coffee table as a subtle, simple nod to your leafy-green friend.
