Breaking Habits 2019

     A commune of activist nuns runs a cannabis farm in the town of Merced, CA.  Merced is one of two of the poorest towns in California.  They use it to make medicine that will not get people high but help them with illnesses and diseases.  The nuns are fighting against the authorities the local sheriff and local cartels.  Kate was in a corporate job, she was the money earner for the family and she lived in Wisconsin.  She learned that her husband of 17 years had not divorced his first wife?  Then she found out he had siphoned a major portion of the money she had earned.  She had three children and she took the children and not the money.  She was homeless and living on the street for a while and now she lives with a community of other women.

     Sister Kate and the other sisters provide only medicinal cannabis.  In the beginning, they sold their cannabis to clinics and they gave it to poor patients because they didn’t want them to suffer.  The Sheriff of Merced believes everyone that grows cannabis does it to get high.  He doesn’t believe the sisters are any different?  He doesn’t believe there are two types of cannabis?  He sends his deputies out to destroy any cannabis plants.  Kate and the sisters also need to protect their business from black market thieves.  Marijuana has been legal in California since 1996 and legalized for recreational use in 2016.    

87 min, Doc directed and written by Robert Ryan with Sister Kate.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 38% critic 58% audience, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Leslie Felperin, d.movies.org 4* out of 5*.

Special Note:  There are three major types of cannabis, indica, ruderalis and sativa.  Different varieties have been developed to intensify specific characteristics of the plant.  The specific characteristics can differentiate the strain for marketing purposes to to make it more effective as a drug.  Properties of the plants can also be different such as taste, color, smell or the origin of the variety.  The plants are usually divided as to their use, recreational or medicinal.  Plants for recreational use have a high percentage of cannabinoids.  Other varieties, also known as hemp have a very low cannabinoid content.