Q&A with Sharon Letts
From First Joint to Lifelong Advocate: A Journey of Cannabis Discovery and Healing
Dr. C: Join me for an unedited interview with Sharon Letts, a seasoned producer and features writer who transitioned to cannabis publishing after cannabis oil put her breast cancer into remission in 2012. Her career spans mainstream media to international cannabis journalism, focusing on patient profiles, cannabis culture, and therapeutic uses of cannabis. Sharon's work appears in prominent publications like High Times, Weed World Magazine, and Cannabis Now Magazine, where she shares inspiring stories of healing and plant-based medicine.
Dr. C: What initially motivated you to start using cannabis, and how has your consumption shifted over time ?
SL: I was 16 years old in 1975, walking to high school with my sister and her friend, when they went into a gas station bathroom and lit up a joint
It was peer pressure, as I was a good girl and my sister was a boundary breaker. I took two hits and that morning was the first time I was able to focus on school work. Up until then I was a day dreamer, a window gazer, and not considered very bright - barely pulling Cs in my classes.
They didn’t have a name for what my challenges were - ADHD and a Processing Disorder on the Autistic Spectrum.
The first period was English and the teacher was absent. The substitute taught the class how to write Haiku poetry, and I knocked off 10 before looking up. I was first published as a poet at 19 and have never written anything without smoking a little first - not for TV, newspapers or magazines. I must medicate to focus (I took two hits to write this!)
I never understood why or how it worked, I only knew that after I smoked, I no longer felt like I was bad student. It was life changing.
I used to identify as a stoner, because that’s what they told me I was. But when cannabis oil put my breast cancer into remission and replaced upwards of 10 pharmaceuticals, I became educated. Now, I’m an Educated Stoner.
Dr. C: How has your understanding of cannabis evolved since you began writing about it?
SL: I was a working writer/producer in television in Los Angeles when I was brought up to Humboldt County in Northern California to produce a news show. While working in media I presented with Lobular Carcinoma, breast cancer in the form of a white spider web mass in the lobes.
I was given cannabis oil and it replaced the pharmaceuticals in two and a half weeks, putting the cancer into remission in two and a half months, giving me no other option but to cross over from mainstream media and write about cannabis as medicine for cannabis publications, globally.
My focus has been profiling cannabis patients on successful outcomes using cannabis and other healing plants as medicine. In interviewing patients, I’ve learned a great deal about cause and effect - what maladies are helped and what kind of dosing is needed for remission as opposed to treating symptoms.
This work has taught me enough to share what I do at home for my own ailments, sharing in essays within my Educated Stoner series - now a book in progress, detailing more than a decade of using plants, while shunning pharmaceuticals.
Dr. C: How do you decide which cannabis products to use?
SL: My mainstay since putting the cancer into remission is taking cannabis oil daily. I make it myself and put it in capsules (1 ml oil mixed with coconut). This replaced sleeping pills, pain killers, and is an excellent prevention against infections, inflammation, and more.
My formulation is half chamomile/half cannabis. Chamomile is my other favorite beneficial plant, as it has nearly the same beneficial compound profile as cannabis or hemp, and takes the edge off the strong THC in the cannabis oil - which can measure upwards of 80 to 90 percent activated THC.
I also make a topical salve with many beneficial plants from the garden mixed together with cannabis.
My other favorite deliveries are tonics, made with infused drinking alcohol. Spiced rum and spicy chile mescal are two favorites. I also enjoy mocktails made with infused simple syrups I make and flavor myself.
My honey infused with half chamomile/cannabis is another favorite, and has been found to be successful in treating children with autism.
All my cooking oils in the kitchen are also infused with cannabis and other healing herbs. And my dogs get a half chamomile/cannabis formulation infused in olive oil in their food moring and night.
Dr. C: How has your cannabis use affected your quality of life, and why?
SL: Where to begin? From writing poetry to making art as a teenager, treating hormonal depression, putting cancer into remission - saving me from chemotherapy and surgery - and treating so many ailments over the years.
I even replaced opioids with the oil using suppositories after a serious ankle fracture.
This was one of the more poignant treatments, as the surgeon put lots of metal in my ankle, telling me it would be in there for life. When the ankle healed in record time, rejecting the metal to the point the surgeon had to remove it, the surgeon learned about its regenerative properties.
Before I was in television I was a professional gardener, so I’ve always had a love of plants. Now, it’s a calling to help people heal and be happy and healthy with plants.
Dr. C: Can you share a story about a breakthrough moment in your understanding of cannabis?
SL: Dr. William Courtney, an MD in Mendocino, California had me on the phone for two hours when I was still in mainstream media, explaining to me the powers of the plant. He said, “Smoking gives you just a fraction of the medicine of the plant, and juicing the leaves alone can put serious ailments into remission.
He had success in treating Lupus by juicing leaf, then witnessed an infant’s brain tumor go away by applying cannabis oil to a pacifier several times a day.
Dr. Courtney was the first doctor to enlighten me about the plant, and I will be forever grateful. When I presented with cancer, my conversation with him made all the difference in the world. I actually began eating the leaves first, with part of the mass gone during the first scheduled biopsy, then did the oil treatment, putting the cancer into remission - with the added bonus of righting so many wrongs, while doing away with synthetic formulations.
I suppose my biggest breakthrough was understanding that so many beneficial plants are actually superfoods that address all our biological systems, keeping us in homeostasis or a place where illness cannot dwell.
Dr. C: What role do you believe storytelling plays in changing public perception about cannabis?
SL: I’m a features writer from mainstream media and a documentarian from television. This means I don’t do news, crime, etc. I write human interest stories.
When I was in mainstream media, in-house at the Times-Standard in Eureka, I would interject serious topics of the day into a profile. It was common knowledge the features section was the more widely read section of the paper and I used it for messaging.
When I crossed over from mainstream media into the cannabis publishing space, I continued to profile people, I just added their cannabis stories in the mix.
(One of the most frustrating things about crossing over was the fact that most of the weed editors really weren’t editors at all, and had no idea how to edit me in AP Style!)
As an example, when I wrote my series What’s in Your Stash? for High Times, they were all patient profiles. Because when you look at someone’s stash, you are looking at how they medicate. When you start asking questions, you find out why. You also realize that everyone is a patient and the plant is always medicine.
That series was my sneaky way of putting a patient profile in the middle of a seemingly fluff stoner piece. Readers liked it for fun, but actually learned something.
My favorite quote: Your endocannabinoid system doesn’t care that you just want to get high!
Dr. C: What future topics or trends in cannabis excite you the most, and why ?
SL: My focus is to lead every human (and their pets) back into the garden. We’ve been led away for far too long, while adding empty foods and synthetic medicines with myriad side effects to the mix.
It feels like the cannabis community and movement has helped people see the value of plant-based medicine. I also like to say, cannabis was my gateway drug to other healing plants.
As a side note, the word drug is actually from the Dutch word drog - the wooden crates loaded with plants for apothecary (the ancient pre-pharma practice of making remedies with plants) onto wooden ships for transport. So, you see, drugs have everything to do with plants!
Bonus:
Dr. C: How has your relationship with cannabis evolved as a result of your research and writing?
SL: Telling the stories of healing for nearly 15 years now, I’ve learned a great deal.
While I respect the knowledge of doctors, there’s something to be said for the home apothecary who treats themselves and their communities with plants. The sharing of recipes and proper dosing is still passed down via word of mouth only.
Hell, the cannabis oil recipe that put my cancer into remission had been shared around the world for just 10 years or so from Rick Simpson up in Canada when it made it’s way to me from longtime farmer and remedy maker, Pearl Moon of Southern Humboldt.
And it wasn’t even Rick’s recipe - it was an old honey oil recipe they used to make in the 60s and 70s for smoking. Rick found it online and thought it was a good idea to eat it rather than smoke it, and he was right!
As a footnote, I once did a session with an energy worker who had a proven track record of finding illness in patients, and she told me that the spirit of the plant came through to let me know I was putting too much emphasis on it! That’s when I began to research and add other healing plants to my protocols.
Take away the THC that we’ve upped via hybridization with human hands and cannabis would be just another superfood with miraculous healing properties no one would care about. The THC makes it controversial and sexy. And I suppose we should thank the compound for shining its light so brightly.
For more information on Sharon visit her website www.sharonletts.com
Find her on Instagram: @sharoneletts X @sharonletts, Facebook and LinkedIn
Dr. C: Thank you, Sharon, for sharing your fascinating journey and insights into the evolving world of cannabis and your journey! Your experiences and perspectives offer valuable context for understanding the complexities and potential of these industries. It’s been a pleasure discussing these important topics with you.
To our listeners and readers, stay curious and informed as we navigate the future of cannabis and psychedelics together. If there are any interesting individuals or topics you’d like us to cover, please share your suggestions in the comments section below! Join us next time for more unfiltered conversations. Until then, be safe and make informed choices!