From office life to a world of healing
Cannabis arrived in my life in June 2015, changing my days from office-bound organisation and administration to a world of learning and healing.
It was totally unexpected. I accompanied a very good friend’s 90-year-old father to his grandson’s wedding in Napa Valley – and my daughter said that while I was in California, I should find some Cannabis oil for my sister-in-law who had breast cancer. I didn’t say anything – where was I going to find oil and how was I going to bring it home? And I did not take her request seriously – until the hostesses of a family lunch I attended showed us the greenhouse full of Cannabis that they were growing for a local producer.
"Where was I going to find oil and how was I going to bring it home?"
A number of us at the lunch asked to have some – so our hostesses arrived at the wedding with a ‘shopping bag’ with products from the people they were growing for. I decided that as the oil had arrived in my path, I had to bring it home.
I gave it to my sister-in-law and didn’t think about it again until a friend discovered he had a brain tumour. I went back to my sister-in-law for ‘what to do?’ help. Her cancer had metastasised and she was seeing a German oncologist turned Chinese Medicine Healer. She gave me a brief overview of the protocols she was following. The information I got from my sister-in-law, plus my knowledge of the oil that I had brought back from California helped me to be calm and I was able to steady my friend and his family who were understandably reeling with what they were facing.
I spent the next few years learning and growing (Cannabis and myself).
My long-term interest in natural medicine and the power of food was catapulted into a full-blown search for alternative healing. I spent the next few years learning, growing (Cannabis and myself), treating people with Cannabis, acupressure and body balancing, connecting them with other healers where necessary, and making Cannabis products.
Sebastopol, California
In September 2016 I went back to Sebastopol in California and with thanks to the people who had put Cannabis in my path in the first place, I was able to have a tour of a Cannabis oil extraction and product manufacturing and distribution facility.
Tel Aviv, Israel
I attended CannaTech in Tel Aviv in March 2017. This was an incredible introduction to the world of Cannabis. I focused on the medical talks (David Meiri was a highlight for me) and absorbed and learned as much as I could from the speakers and the exhibitors. I was also blessed to be invited to spend the summer in San Francisco to learn more about medical Cannabis.
San Francisco & Los Angeles, California
I spent approximately eight weeks in San Francisco between July and October 2017 (it was not a continuous time as I came back to South Africa to be with my dad before he passed). During this time, I attended meetings and workshops with my hostess and went to local Cannabis events. I also attended a conference in Los Angeles with a wide range of speakers – notably medical case studies, and speakers from a number of US states regarding their handling of the legalisation of Cannabis.
Cologne, Germany
My hostess asked me to accompany her to the IACM 9th Conference on Cannabinoids in Medicine, which was held in Cologne, Germany in September 2017. She has a rare autoimmune disease (which she successfully treats with Cannabis) and finds travelling alone very difficult. I loved the conference and found it extremely interesting, despite a lot of it being way more technical, medical, and scientific than I am.
Application of knowledge
In the first half of 2018, I assisted my friend as he followed the cancer protocol I learnt in San Francisco. This was a period of learning as I increased my knowledge of Cannabis, the ‘power of food’ and the ketogenic diet and met phenomenal healers. My friend passed at the end of 2022 – having been told by doctors in the USA and in South Africa that he was unlikely to see Christmas 2016.
The journey continues
In August 2019 we opened Qure, a Cannabis testing laboratory. “We”: Brenda, a chemist with a love for and experience of Cannabis; Natie, a green-fingered grower and ‘ignitor’; Kris, a scientist with a passion for Cannabis cultivation and genetics; and me. We started small and are growing as people realise the value of and need for testing and as the Cannabis world starts flourishing.
Opening my heart to Cannabis and opening the lab have opened doors to experiences I would never have had and people I would never have met. A grateful happy me.
