Women & Weed: A Story as Old as Time

The lyrics of Bob Dylan’s “The Times Are A-Changin'”, released in 1964, are still relevant today. Six decades on, the challenges and battles that our society faces are different. The good news is that despite all the difficulties, there has been progress. Cannabis is becoming ever more normalized—not just for flower children or gangsters or those high school surfing stoners whose name might as well be Spicoli (Google it, kids). Culture has changed and will continue to change. This is especially true in regards to women’s involvement with cannabis.

Men are often portrayed as dominating the cannabis culture, and any legalizing industries that spring up alongside or from this (depending on who you ask). It’s obvious that this is true. If you walk into a smoke session, dispensary conference, or boardroom these days, the majority of people are male. 

This is supported by empirical analysis. Women in Cannabis Study 2022, which surveyed over 1,500 cannabis workers found that just 11 percent “thought the industry was equitable.” Reporting is also important. Marijuana Business Daily In 2019, women occupied 37 percent of the executive positions in cannabis. By 2022, this number would drop to 23 percent. (Many states had legalized by then, increasing the pool). The study shows, however, that women in the cannabis business today entered it between 2014-2019. Legalization is certainly to blame. 

Although smoking, particularly intoxicants like cannabis, is seen as a masculine pastime in general parlance, it’s not entirely the reason that women are marginalized in cannabis. As child-bearers, there were real and significant risks in being professionally involved with the plant—risks that were relieved only once legalization began accelerating beyond the medical realm.

It takes time for change to occur, especially in terms of gender equality. It’s still undeniable, that women in the cannabis industry and culture have made great strides despite all the challenges. Where once a woman’s domain was in a support role—keeping the home while the grower did his duties (which included sometimes going to jail for cultivating and selling); trimming; organizing caregiver networks; manning the dispensary counter; or occasionally taking up the grower reins herself, today she’s taking more managerial roles. It could be starting or being the CEO of cannabis firms or pioneering new avenues like public relations or advocacy. Many women are coming to the fore, and revealing their years of experience. 

The consumer market is gaining greater share for women than ever before. Statistic compiled from Flowhub, a cannabis-tech company, show that between the early years of 2020 and 2021, sales of cannabis to female customers rose by 55%. In 2021, 48% of new customers were female. It’s an increase of ten per cent from the original study, which was conducted in 2018.

As society and law have become more accepting of women in cannabis, they are now being recognized for their accomplishments, bringing the industry into the present from the difficult past. There’s the Dank Duchess, a protégé of the legendary late hashishin Frenchy Cannoli and whose own work is already cemented in hash and cannabis lore. Brownie Mary sacrificed everything to make sure that her patients could access the potent medicine she created. She was also instrumental in helping California’s Proposition 215, and San Francisco’s Proposition p, pass. Margaret Mead was an anthropologist who made a powerful speech to Congress criticizing cannabis in 1969. Hatshepsut is also said to have used hemp as a menstrual remedy. 

See? For as long as history has been kept, weed and women have appeared together. It’s time to shine a bit brighter. We have always been around, but now is our chance. Who’s up for running the world now?

This story was originally published in issue 48 of the print edition of Cannabis Now. Read it now on the Cannabis Now iTunes app.

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