Sexism, racism and lack of access to managerial positions are a scourge in the cannabis industry among women
A study shows that the cannabis industry is hiring women, but not as directives and that, in addition, they continue to be a sexual claim for many cannabis companies.
During the 10 years of the cannabis industry, sexism has always been a problem. Marisa McRainey, 39, general manager in Atlanta, Georgia and Bangkok of Revolution Microelectronics, a manufacturer of interior lights, said we are reaching a point where it is difficult to work in the cannabis sector if you are a woman. However, this fighter does not give up because she thinks that if she resigns, the same thing will happen with all the women in the cannabis industry.
Karson Humiston created a company to hire workers in the cannabis industry. Karson knows everything about marijuana and the powerful industry that surrounds the plant. In the TV channels you can see news of the cannabis sector daily and the investments are huge. In addition, the medicinal potential of cannabis has not yet reached its ceiling. Marijuana ceased to be a taboo subject in California long ago.
However, during a wedding in the state of New York, Karson realized that the situation of cannabis in California did not represent the situation of this substance throughout the United States. During a conversation with some of the guests and friends of the university, the subject of each one’s work came out.
When she explained that she ran a company in the cannabis sector, they all fell silent. And although cannabis creates direct work for more than 300,000 people in the US UU., The reality is that the situation changes a lot from one state to another. And in the state of New York it does not seem very normal.
Karson laughs when he remembers that his friends called all those who worked in the cannabis industry “pickers”. They believed that all members of this industry are simple marijuana collectors. She had to explain to them that the cannabis business was much more than that, that there were also horticulturists, botanists, pruners, doctors, researchers and more.
This situation reminds us that the reality of legal marijuana still has not penetrated the mentality of many Americans.
California is like an island within the United States. In this state it is easy to forget that the cannabis sector is another world. Many Americans believe that the industry is made up of small farmers and ignores that legal marijuana is creating more jobs in recent years than any other economic sector.
If marijuana is legalized at the federal level, the business will grow exponentially. However, the reality is that the role of women in the industry rarely reaches the rank of manager.
But while we wait for legalization to occur, we should rethink the hiring practices that exclude women from the most relevant jobs. It is true that the industry has already improved in this regard. But there is still much to be done about it.
A statistical company conducted a study on 166 marijuana companies located in 17 states. 38% of the employees were women who worked in the lowest positions. In the cannabis technology industry, only 20% were women.
The truth is that 38% is not enough but it is better than nothing. However, when it comes to management positions, only 17% are women.
Of course, the percentage is very small. Companies in the cannabis sector are hiring women but for medium or low level positions. There are very few women managers in the sector.
And if there are few female managers in the cannabis industry, the statistics are even lower when it comes to African-American women.
Employing women in management positions, the cannabis industry has a great opportunity to express a social commitment to equality in all aspects of society. During the years prior to the legalization of cannabis, the activists’ key word was “normalization”. Perhaps now is the time to apply the concept of standardization to the hiring of women in the industry.
The cannabis industry in the United States has the opportunity to build an inclusive system in which men and women have the same opportunities. But it has to be done.
Marisa McRainey complains about the marketing used by companies in the cannabis sector too many times. Angry, she mentioned a fertilizer company that uses pictures of women in explicitly provocative positions. And there is no reason to include pictures of naked young women to sell products related to cannabis.
Recently, a Californian cannabis company used sexual pictures of women with little clothing. This publicity has generated a lot of criticism from women in the cannabis industry who feel insulted. Women not only do not have access to executive positions in the cannabis industry; they are also still being used as sexual complaints.
In short, women in the cannabis industry are suffering from sexism, racism and lack of access to the most important jobs. It seems that the cannabis industry is not so different from the others, after all.
