With the rapidly evolving cannabis industry and social media campaigns, such as #Time’sUp and #MeToo, 2018 is becoming known as the year of change. Women and the cannabis industry are making headway and putting themselves on the map; specifically, women in the cannabis industry. In no particular order, here are 10 notable women striving for change and bursting through glass ceilings in the cannabis industry.
1. Dr. Lakisha Jenkins
Master Herbalist
Dr. Lakisha Jenkins is a registered master herbalist with a doctorate in traditional naturopathy. She specializes in cancer prevention and medicinal marijuana education. She includes natural remedies and cannabis to generate concoctions to treat different illnesses. It was in 2002 when her oldest daughter was diagnosed with brain tumors that Dr. Jenkins began researching holistic alternatives to chemotherapy and radiation while also working on her doctorate. Four years later, her daughter sadly passed away. Dr. Jenkins now uses her knowledge of holistic healing methods to help other children like her daughter.
As a member of The Minority Business Council, Dr. Jenkins does her part to raise awareness and help women and minorities break through the glass ceiling in the cannabis industry. She is a strong advocate for education and advises those looking to excel in this controversial business to educate themselves and always be able to back up their claims with evidence and reliable sources and to conduct themselves in a professional manner.
2. Amanda Reiman
Researcher
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), approximately 25 percent of patients who are prescribed opiates for pain relief end up abusing them. This opiate misuse has led to staggering amounts of addiction and devastating cases of overdoses. Thanks to research conducted by Amanda Reiman and her team, marijuana is being looked at as a safer alternative to pain management. Funding, which has always been the biggest obstacle for researchers like Reiman, is now generated via taxes from legal cannabis sales. Breakthroughs in her research, and the research of others like her, can help people suffering from chronic pain avoid the dangerous side effect of addiction.
3. Jazmin Hupp
Co-founder of Women Grow
1,400 women gathered in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in February to commemorate the second annual Women Grow Summit in Denver, Colorado. Since its launch in 2014, the networking firm has connected over 25,000 cannabis entrepreneurs and generated $1 million in revenue without the help of outside investors. Fortune Magazine named Hupp a “genius entrepreneur” and Forbes named her as one of the “top businesswomen” in the marijuana business. She hopes to empower women and give them a platform to connect and tell their stories in this rapidly-growing industry.
4. Windy Borman
Documentarian and Social Activist
Windy Borman, multi-award-winning producer and director, has been leaving her footprint in the film industry for decades, and most recently in the marijuana business. In her latest documentary, MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED, Borman delves into the complexity of the gender disparity in the workplace and how female presence is bettering the marijuana industry. Her film has started conversations and raised awareness within the cannabis industry. Her main goal is to promote justice and equality.
5. Mary Jane Gibson
Culture Editor for HIGH TIMES
Mary Jane has lived up to her name ever since she moved to New York in 2004 to start freelancing for the magazine. Since then, she has written countless articles and helped educate people on the hemp plant. She sees considerable promise in the tireless female energy that is spurting up in the cannabis industry.
6. Jaime Lewis
Owner and Founder of Mountain Medicine
Jaime Lewis has worked with edibles in the cannabis industry for almost a decade. This talented chef is extremely passionate about marijuana and its healing capabilities. She bakes with weed and works with local farmers to ensure she knows exactly what is going into her product. Lewis thrives on the idea that she could be hiring women who might someday become her competitors. She is all about female empowerment and wants to create an environment in which her competitive nature can truly flourish.
7. Laura Harris
Executive Director of Colorado Cannabis Chamber of Commerce
With 30 years of experience on the Colorado governmental scene behind her, Laura Harris is not a lady to be messed with. She is primarily focusing on the business aspect of cannabis. With her past experience with the state’s Liquor Enforcement Division, Harris has invaluable intuition in respects to prohibition and regulations.
8. Jessica Peters
President of Moxie Meds
Moxie Meds, an organization that prides itself on creating medicine for female patients by female chemists and doctors, is saturated with CBD extracts. They are all organic and their products can be used for all kinds of ailments from chronic nerve pain to period cramps. She has done incredible work for PTSD patients and those with anxiety who have seen breakthroughs and progress since utilizing her products.
9. Charlo Greene
Founder of Alaska Cannabis Club
Alaskans have this former reporter to thank for legalization of marijuana in Alaska. She is an entrepreneur who founded the Alaska Cannabis Club and Go Greene. Despite an ongoing legal battle against the state of Alaska where Greene faces up to 54 years behind bars for creating the Alaska Cannabis Club, she continues to focus on helping minorities in the industry.
10. Lynne Lyman
California State Director for the Drug Policy Alliance
As the California State Director for the Drug Policy Alliance, Lynne Lyman’s work is never done. She aligns herself with human rights, drug policies rooted in and backed up by science, and health. She strives for equality and inclusivity and is constantly working towards this. Lyman wants to stress marijuana’s long history to anyone who is newly entering the industry. She emphasizes the fact that people have been incarcerated, families have been torn apart, and that people have died trying to get to where they are today, and their work is not over yet. She also highlights the fact that both men and women have laid much of the foundation that is the marijuana industry today.
It is through the efforts of these like-minded women, and others with the same ideas, that enables the cannabis industry to become more inclusive and more successful as it progresses into something bigger.
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