Mary Jane Content

Cannabis culture is largely male-dominant, but that may be changing thanks to marijuana legalization. In addition to the greater number of women fessing up to their cannabis support, women also finally claiming their seats at the big-kid table in terms of cannabis-related businesses, too.

Even though the number if male-headed canna businesses is still greater than female-headed ones (by about two-thirds), compared to other businesses (of which only about  16 percent are female), these numbers are quite impressive. Does this mean that cannabis regulation is leveling the economic playing field? I think it might.

Because of certain gendered role expectations, women around the world notoriously earn less than men; some say that they make as little as 77 percent less than their male counterparts. Though others estimate the gap much smaller (especially for younger women who have yet to start a family), this “gender gap” persists due to the woman’s perceived need to take time off work to care for children or aging parents.

It is because of this gendered wage gap that poverty is so rampant in single-parent households which are predominantly run by women. According to the National Center for Law and Justice, 31 percent single mothers and their children find themselves living under the poverty line.

So what does this have to do with female-headed canna-businesses? Quite a lot, actually.

Now that women are becoming more comfortable coming out of the cannabis closet, so-to-say, they are finding the confidence needed to follow their passions — be they in science, management or business administration — to snag their piece of the pie before someone else does.

For the first time, women do not need to feel threatened by their male counterparts. They do not need to jockey for position by busting through an invisible glass ceiling and they do not need to hide their families while doing so. For the first time, women have just as much of a chance at success as men thanks to the cannabis industry.

The female population can make or break cannabis legislation. With their support, the cannabis industry can grow exponentially as more and more areas across the nation begin regulating marijuana.

Without their support, however, legislatures will continue to maintain the status quo by incarcerating individuals who choose to medicate (or socialize) with cannabis, prisons will continue to fill with non-violent offenders while dangerous criminals remain untouched, and women and children will continue to take up the majority of those living in poverty.

If we want to reduce the gendered wage gap, if we want to support our citizens so that they can earn the wage they deserve and become the businesspeople they want to be, then we need to support marijuana legalization nation-wide.

It is through cannabis legislation and regulation that we can begin to lay the foundation that will bridge the gender gap so that our daughters will have just as much potential for success as our sons.

Canna businesses are changing the outcome of our future. The green rush is here, and it has unlimited potential. It seems only fair that women have their place in the race, too.

What do you think? Will cannabis legalization will finally tip the scales in favor of the female population? Let me know here or on Facebook.

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