Cannabis—from what and how we smoke, to the legality of the drug, to the culture—is evolving rapidly. With that comes huge opportunities to not only position cannabis as a legitimate drug that helps people live better lives, but also rectify the inequities in the criminal justice system that have unfairly targeted Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. One place to start is to support women through intersectional solutions.
How can you do this? Here’s three simple steps.
Stop Shaming: The Women in Cannabis Study, created by Jennifer Whetzel, reported that 66% of respondents have been shamed by others, primarily by their family and doctors, for their cannabis use. A doctor’s refusal to acknowledge cannabis can result in comprised care, and respectability politics maintain inequity. In her article How To Show Up for Women and Minorities In Cannabis, author Janessa Bailey advocates that we stop judging women and BIPOC for consuming cannabis and help in normalizing cannabis care. Consider the biases that you have around cannabis use and how your language and behavior may perpetuate shame.
Spend Your Money at Women Owned Businesses: This one is simple. Women cannot keep their doors open with Instagram likes and fuzzy feelings. Actively search for women growers and women-owned dispensaries and products and prioritize buying your cannabis from them.
Help End The Drug War: The war on drugs has disproportionally affected people of color. As cannabis has become legal state-by-state, we see primarily white business people financially benefitting from the legality, while POC remain behind bars for their non-violent drug use. In How To Show Up for Women and Minorities In Cannabis, author Janessa Bailey shares that “Black and Native women suffer disproportionately from inflated arrest rates due to the war on drugs. Women in prison often lose sovereignty over their bodies and many struggle to receive all their rights back when they emerge. Help end the racist drug war that affects people of color more than white people.” You can help end the drug war by voting for candidates who support decriminalizing cannabis use and also releasing prisoners who are serving terms for non-violent cannabis charges.
As a women owned business with an all women team, we prioritize supporting other women in cannabis. That's why at Après Delight we work with a women owned business based in Vermont to manufacture our all natural CBD intimacy oil. We also partnered with the women founded and owned outdoor brand Kula Cloth for our Good Lovin' post-sex clean up cloth. And there's more! Laura Borichvesky, Founder of Sex Outside, authored our first edition of the Good Lovin' Field Guide and we carry Dame Vibrators, thoughtfully engineered, phenomenally fun adult toys created by women.