It’s time adults have an honest conversation about cannabis with the children in their lives. Author and advocate Susan Soares gives grown-ups the means to do that with her new children’s book, “What’s Growing in Grandma’s Garden.”

The lighthearted story is told from the perspective of a young boy who loves to garden alongside his grandma. Together, they learn about bugs, vegetables, and the special plants in grandma’s greenhouse.

Soares is actively raising the funds necessary to illustrate and publish “What’s Growing in Grandma’s Garden.” So far, she’s gathered just over half of her $10,000 goal.

Just Say KNOW

“What’s Growing in Grandma’s Garden,” Soares’ first book, is based on a true story.

“I am a grandmother,” she explained and is about to welcome her fifth grandchild. “One of my grandsons loves to be in the garden with me,” she said.

Throughout the story, the young boy learns about good bugs and bad bugs, that fresh vegetables taste better, and that it’s fun to garden.

“Grandma has a special plant in her greenhouse,” Soares explained, “we can look, but can’t touch it.”

The young boy wonders why grown-ups can have things that kids cannot.

“What’s Growing in Grandma’s Garden” is just as much a lesson for adults as it is for children.

The book teaches adults how to talk to children about “grown-up vs. kids issues,” Soares said. “Hopefully that will inspire conversations about cannabis and other grown-up things.”

“Knowledge is power,” she said. “In general, we don’t give children the credit they deserve.”

“When you hide something from kids… that attracts them to it. When you lie, you teach them they can’t believe [you],” she added.  

She said that’s one of the biggest failures of the D.A.R.E. program — and why her foundation, C.A.R.E. mocks the anti-drug campaign motto with their own — “Just Say KNOW.”

“Kids KNOW, they aren’t stupid,” said Soares. It’s time for an honest conversation about cannabis.

Soares hopes to see the book in every retail cannabis outlet. “If you are a cannabis consumer, if you have children in your life — niece, nephews, students, etc. — you have an obligation to educate them on the whole cannabis issue.”

Gustav Davies, a Swiss-based artist and illustrator, created the book’s visuals. He said he chose to create the graphics for the story because “[Soares] has something to tell — I like that.”

Davies illustrations are mature yet whimsical. In order to achieve Soares’ vision, he explained, “I’m trying to work as unselfconsciously as possible.”

Advocate-Turned-Author

The advocate-turned-author said the inspiration for “What’s Growing in Grandma’s Garden,” came in 2017 after an appearance on the Southern California radio show, The Woody Show.

“Woody asked me, ‘how did you talk to your children about cannabis?’ I didn’t have a good answer,” she said, admitting she hid it. “I did not like that answer, it really bothered me.”

Soares asked others in and outside of the cannabis industry the same question. She found, “nobody talks their kids about cannabis, even now. Especially people in the industry.”

She wonders where the “what about the kids?” hysteria comes from. “We’re still waking up. Maybe we have PTSD from the drug war,” she said. “We are not owing it as we should.”

One moment stands out to Soares; it came after speaking with an unnamed canna-prenuer. “He said, ‘you are too early, people are not ready for a children’s book about cannabis’.” In the same breath, the source said his eight-year-old made the ‘best Manhattan he’s ever tried,’ Soares explained.

She knew then she needed to write a kid’s book that will “inspire grown-ups to have the conversation about cannabis.”

Cannabis as a Catalyst

Though Soares is a cannabis advocate, she was not always a proponent for the plant. In fact, she once called the cops on a group of teenagers smoking from a pipe in her (now, former) Chino Hills neighborhood.   

At the time, Soares described herself as a devout Mormon, and leader in her Orange County church community.

“It took me five years to get out of the Mormon fog,” Soares said. Her relationship with cannabis was a catalyst.

Soares, a then “Conservative Republican,” suffered serious injuries during a church broom hockey game.

“I was about to score my third goal when someone tripped me,” she explained of the 1993 incident. She went head first into a cement cinder block, which knocked her unconscious, blew out her eardrum, and triggered a migraine that lasted two years.

The pain was intolerable. “I didn’t live a moment without pain,” she said, “I went to chiropractors, my Mormon doctor, Scripps’ Clinic… I was given more and more opioids, but found no relief.”

Coupled with the stress of a divorce, Soares felt desperate. “I contemplated suicide, but knew I had three kids relying on me.”

“My neighbor and I who garden together mentioned that cannabis could help my migraine situation,” she said.

Soares was scared — but eager to find relief. “I knew my community and my family would turn their backs on me if I used cannabis, but I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t have any other options left.”

She tried cannabis, and “after six weeks of use, my migraine was gone, never to return again,” she said.

Consequently, the “worst did happen,” Soares continued, “my family did not talk to me, and I was ostracized from the church community. But I needed to be alive for my kids.” Cannabis gave her the ability to do it.

From then on, she made it her life’s mission — starting after her own children reached adulthood — to educate others about the plant. She went on to found the nonprofit organization, Cannabis Awareness Rallies and Events (C.A.R.E.), which aims to educate people about cannabis.

For more information, visit JustSayCare.org or Soares’ fundraising page on Facebook.