PHOTO Gracie Malley for Cannabis Now
Here are some members of the cannabis industry — and the LGBTQ community — who are worth supporting all year long.
Members of the cannabis industry often tout their field as one of the most inclusive. The legal cannabis market is, after all, being constructed and furnished right before our very eyes — why wouldn’t it be diverse and accepting and progressive?
After all, given the medical marijuana movements close ties to the AIDS crisis (shout out to medical marijuana pioneers Dennis Peron and Brownie Mary!). But unfortunately, when something like the promise of an industry free from the ills of discrimination and patriarchy sounds too good to be true, that’s usually because it is.
Sure, the latest data shows that the cannabis industry employs more self-identified women than tech or agriculture, but men still retain most of the power positions at these businesses, holding titles like CEO or director more often than their female counterparts. From a racial justice perspective, most locations where cannabis is legal in the U.S. have been slow to implement equity measures, which means the rich (statistically speaking, old straight white men) get richer and the communities of color most likely to have been affected by cannabis prohibition get pushed to the side. And from the broadest standpoint, there’s the sad fact that most people in the cannabis industry aren’t making much money anyway.
But even if the world of legal weed isn’t quite the progressive capitalist utopia it’s sometimes cracked up to be, we can still push for a better industry, and there are some very exciting people in the space right now working to do just that. Here are a few members of the LGBTQ community making big waves in the cannabis business — support them if you get a chance, because their success creates even more room for their contemporaries.
Published: June 23, 2020
The post 6 LGBTQ Movers & Shakers in the Cannabis Industry appeared first on L.A. Cannabis News.
Credit: Source link
