Female entrepreneurs are carving out a space for themselves in the burgeoning sector.
Marijuana prohibition in the US is quickly losing ground, with 13 states having passed decriminalization laws since 1973 and at least 20 states poised to vote on similar measures in 2016. As cannabis inches towards broader legalization, it has created the country's fastest-growing industry––and
women are investing early. While people have been using and consuming
the plant for ages, its 'official' market is growing almost from
scratch, allowing female entrepreneurs to carve out a space for
themselves in it from the beginning.
More women hold executive positions in the cannabis industry than in any other
The cannabis industry, like many others, is stereotypically thought of as largely male-dominated, but today women hold more executive positions in it than in any other field. Melissa Meyer, head of the New York chapter of women cannabis entrepreneurs networking group Women Grow said
women's participation has grown due to women supporting and educating
each other through groups like these, and women from other fields being
drawn in by the flexibility of the burgeoning industry.
"Many
industries that attract really smart women, like tech, media, and
finance are largely male-dominated," she said. "Some very talented women
aren't satisfied there, and are bleeding from those industries and
taking the opportunity to start a culture from scratch. In the cannabis
industry, we are able to set our own agenda, so even though it is still
male dominated in terms of numbers, we are creating a space where the
cultural agenda is being set by women."
Decriminalization of marijuana has resulted in an emerging industry
Meyer is the founder of HealthMJ,
a resource that helps patients to learn more about the benefits of
medical marijuana. She founded the company after two close friends died
of cancer and she saw that drug prohibition had created a dearth of
accurate health information about cannabis use.
HealthMJ is an example
of what is called an ancillary business––one that serves the main
cannabis industry in some way, but does not actually distribute cannabis
products. Such ventures can include informational services like
Meyer's, as well as software and hardware, like vaporizers for
consumption.
In places like New York, where medical marijuana is legal
but dispensaries are few and far between
due to heavy regulation and a costly licensing process, ancillary
businesses are more common than in Colorado, where recreational
marijuana is legal and dispensaries are plentiful.
Meyer
said Women Grow's national membership is split between women owners of
ancillary businesses, growers, distributors, and average consumers and
advocates who just want to learn more about the business. Its 34
national chapters hold meetings, workshops, and networking events for
all of these constituents, and the organization is growing rapidly,
recently becoming the largest networking group in the industry.
According to Meyer, only eight people attended the first meeting for
Women Grow in October 2014. Now, there are 15,000 people on its mailing
list, and more than 90 attended the most recent networking event in New
York City last week.
Deidre Dyer, Melody Lee, Benjamin Bronfman, Kassandra Frederique, and Selena Cuffe at the Women Grow panel Provided by Marley Natural
Racial diversity a key focus for entrepreneurs
Last
week's event was held in the headquarters of Marley Natural, the
official Bob Marley cannabis product line, and focused on the importance
of diversity in the cannabis industry. Much of the panel focused on how
to increase racial diversity alongside gender equity in the industry as
it grows.
The drug war and marijuana prohibition disproportionately affected
minorities and poor Americans, leaving many with criminal records that
now render them unable to fully participate in the industry as major
companies swoop in on legal marijuana profits. Speaking on the panel,
Heritage Link Brands co-founder Selena Cuffe said entrepreneurs in the
cannabis industry should work to extend ownership to people hit the
hardest by these laws.
"Now
that [cannabis] is legal, how do people of color—who have been
oppressed by the laws that were made—how do you bring them into the
industry? Not just as employees but as owners who also get a piece of
the pie," Cuffe asked. "Now that we are at the beginning of that
process, the biggest challenge is figuring out a way to bring people
that were most affected by these laws in."
Cuffe
got her start in the adult beverage industry, co-founding the largest
importer of black-produced wine from South Africa. She created the
company after seeing that less than 2 percent of vineyards in the
country's $3-billion wine industry were owned by black vintners. As one
of the few vineyard-owning women of color in the US today, she said she
is now seeing similar issues in the cannabis trade, though she feels
race plays a larger role than gender in the industry due to the history
of racial discrimination tied to drug use and prohibition.
"I
have never felt that being a woman didn't allow me to have a seat at
the table as much as I did being a person of color," she said.
Why diversity in the cannabis industry matters
Kassandra
Frederique, New York director of policy for reform advocacy group Drug
Policy Alliance, said that, because of this, all women should be lifted
up as the industry grows.
"I
think the marijuana industry has the reputation of being male-centric,
but I think it's rapidly changing," she said. "Making sure women have
the capital to enter the industry is something that is really important,
and specifically making sure that when we talk about gender parity that
women of color are also a part of that."
Beyond
race and gender, many are finding the cannabis industry is also one of
the most inclusive in terms of age. Jyl Ferris, who bakes and sells her
own edibles, said as a graphic designer she has faced age-based
discrimination when searching for jobs that require coding. This
industry is far more welcoming, which she attributes to baby boomers'
role in popularizing recreational marijuana use in the 1960s and '70s.
"I
do think this industry has given me, as a baby boomer and as a woman,
the fairest chance at starting a business of anything in the whole
entire country," she said.
In
addition to glass ceilings to be broken, there are still prohibitive
laws and red tape standing between women and industry success. In New
York, for example, licenses are costly and time-consuming to obtain,
with only eight awarded this year after millions of dollars were spent to open their doors.
While
many activists believe the legalization of marijuana has reached a
tipping point, there is still a long way to go before a federal stamp of
approval allows start-ups to fully enter the market. But if Women Grow
accomplishes what it has set out to do, female entrepreneurs will have
an arsenal of tools at their fingertips to succeed when that day comes.
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