Where Are the Women in Cannabis?

Photo by Elizabeth Ferreira

Remember when legalization was supposed to open the doors to a new, inclusive green economy? Women were leading the charge, launching brands, developing products, building wellness communities, and redefining what weed could look and feel like.

Fast forward to 2025, and here’s the question no one seems to want to answer: Where the hell did all the women go?

Seriously. Scan the shelves, scroll through brand rosters, and peek behind the corporate curtain. It’s giving sanitized, bro-heavy, VC-backed monopoly energy. The raw, visionary, woman-led weed brands that helped build this industry? Most of them have either been bought out, pushed out, or buried under red tape and silence.

The Rise and Erasure of Women in Cannabis

Let’s not forget who made cannabis calm, calming, and culturally relevant.

• Women led the charge in cannabis wellness.

• They made edibles elegant and smoking stylish.

• They connected plant medicine to mental health, community, and the concept of healing.

• Queer women, women of color, and grassroots activists gave weed its soul.

  
  

And then came the money. As soon as big investors arrived, women were pushed out. Their brands were acquired and white-labeled into oblivion. Their ideas were copied and repackaged.

Their content was shadowbanned while frat-boy brands got sponsored posts.

Let’s be real. The system wasn’t built for women to win. It was built to capitalize on our ideas, then shove us into the background.

What’s Holding Us Back?

Photo by Andreas Maier

Funding: Less than 2 percent of venture capital goes to women. For Black and Brown women, that number is zero.

Licensing: It’s intentionally complex and costly. If you’re not backed by a legal team or a rich uncle, good luck.

Media coverage: Still obsessed with tech bros who jumped into cannabis for the cash, not the culture.

Social platforms: Women get flagged for the duplicate content that male-led weed brands profit from.

It’s not a talent problem. It’s a gatekeeping problem.

But Don’t Get It Twisted, Women Are Still Here

They might not be getting the press, but they’re not gone.

• They’re running community dispensaries with intention.

• They’re cultivating premium flower under the radar.

• They’re designing rituals, building brands, educating audiences, and putting in real work.

• They’re collaborating, innovating, and staying rooted in culture, not hype.

  
  

The only difference? The spotlight isn’t following them. The system is built to ignore them.

So Where Do We Go From Here?

Photo by Diego Barros

If we want cannabis culture actually to reflect the people who built it, that means putting women back in the center of the conversation.

• Support women-led weed brands. Spend your money with them.

• Tag them, post about them, amplify their work.

• Ask your local dispensary why they don’t carry more female founders.

• If you’re in the space, collaborate instead of competing. There’s enough room for all of us; unless we let corporate culture convince us otherwise.

  
  

This isn’t just about equity. It’s about survival. Women built this industry with vision, heart, and hustle. We’re not the side story. We are the main event.

And we’re not done yet.