Women try to advance stake in marijuana industry

By Michael Bodley
@News21

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – As the marijuana industry outgrows its male-dominated infancy, women backed by an international network are jostling for a bigger slice of profits from pot.

Women Grow, a for-profit group dedicated to advancing females in the field, approaches its one-year anniversary on Aug. 6. Its executive director, Jazmin Hupp, said women are doing better than ever in the business, but barriers to prosperity remain.

“This is a very intimidating environment,” Hupp said at an ArcView Group conference in Alexandria, Virginia, earlier this year. “It’s not very diverse. It’s very capital oriented. So, if you’re a person who has traditionally not had access to capital, this is a pretty intimidating ballroom to walk into.”

In many states where marijuana is legal, it takes a multimillion-dollar investment to bankroll a dispensary or cultivation site. With the vast majority of banks unwilling to finance cannabis ventures because the drug is illegal under federal law, it can be especially difficult for women to get started in the field, Hupp said.

From 13 founding members, Women Grow has expanded into 33 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada, sponsored by 50 companies that each donated $5,000 to the cause. Hupp estimates that one in five marijuana businesses are now owned by women.

Local chapters lead monthly meetings where successful women give tips to those just getting started. About 1,000 people attend events nationwide each month.

“If you are brand new to town, let’s get you your first job as a budtender or as a supervisor,” Hupp said in a phone interview. “If you are manager level, let’s get you into a leadership level. If you’re ready to start your own company, let’s get you starting your own company. And those women who are successful, let’s get them invested in the new women coming up.”

On a national level, Women Grow works to lobby legislators to pass marijuana-friendly laws. Hupp and her cohorts are pressing Congress to provide banking solutions for an industry that deals almost exclusively in cash, among many other measures.

“Nationally, we’re very much locked within a ‘Reefer Madness’ misunderstanding, and we’ve been lied to for the last 80 years, and it’s going to take a bit of time to rewind those lies and re-teach people,” she said.

The achievements of women who have succeeded in the marijuana industry serves as a sizeable starting point, Hupp said. “By putting the women who are doing great work at the front of the room, we’re attracting more and more diverse people into the industry every day.”
Follow Michael Bodley @michael_bodley. Come back Aug. 16 to see the full News21 report on “America’s Weed Rush.”