Cannabis business owner and “former member” of Women Grow calls cops on 8 year old

By Cara Anderson

IG: @carajojo

Update: Women Grow has released a third statement, and Ettel has resigned from her position as CEO of TreatWell.

Allison Ettel, a “former member” of Women Grow, was captured calling the cops on an 8-year-old black girl for “illegally selling water without a permit” in San Francisco. The child was selling cold water bottles for $2 outside of her SoMa home, a true entrepreneur.

The child’s mother captured Ettel calling the cops and posted the video to her Instagram. The clip has gone viral, accounts like @bbqnwhileblack and @theshaderoom have reposted the video, with The Shade Room’s post garnering nearly 3 million views in a matter of hours.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkXWMlWguex/

After the video went viral, the woman was identified as Allison Ettel. Ettel is the Founder of TreatWell, a cannabis tincture company that specializes in products for humans and animals.

Then came the discovery of Allison Ettel’s bio on Women Grow’s site, which led to backlash against Women Grow, an organization with the mission of connecting, empowering, and supporting diverse leaders in the cannabis industry.

As a response to criticism, Women Grow posted a statement on their Instagram.

Women Grow Updated Statement

“There have been requests made of Women Grow regarding Allison Ettel and an incident being circulated on social media. To clarify, Ms. Ettel has never been employed by Women Grow, and while Ms. Ettel is a former member and has spoken at past Women Grow events, she is not a representative of Women Grow. Please direct your concerns and comments to Ms. Ettel’s spokespeople.”

Some Instagram users are not at all satisfied with the women-led organization’s statement and request that Women Grow take a stance.

Instagrammer @biteme_1313 commented, “I thought I wanted to be a part of @womengrow but how can you condone this behavior? Ok so she wasn’t employed by you she’s spoken in the past got it but what’s the future look like? Are you still going to have her in your panels? Promote her line? Have you dissociated with her? Cannabis has no place for racism, cannabis is meant to bring people together and heal and clearly #PermitPatty is not about that. @womengrow if your not standing against this behavior you’re for it.”

People are yearning for diversity within the cannabis industry. It’s an industry with massive potential for aiding social equity, an industry that is currently dominated by white people. An industry that (in some locations) is barring entry to people of color who have been disproportionately targeted for cannabis crimes.

So, while having a mission to promote diversity within the cannabis industry is great, enabling racist behavior is not promoting diversity. In the least.

In great taste, Magnolia Oakland Wellness has decided to stop selling Ettel’s products, despite them being one of the dispensary’s top-selling items.

Magnolia Oakland Wellness issued their own statement to their Instagram:

“As of today, Magnolia will no longer be carrying Treatwell Tinctures. After seeing this video of their CEO, calling the police on an 8 year old entrepreneur selling water on a hot day, we decided without hesitation that we could no longer patronize her company. To our amazing patients who use the Treatwell products, please know we are working to ensure we can bring on some new amazing and ethical brands. Treatwell was one of our best selling products but to us, Integrity is always before profits. For our remaining inventory, we are doing blow out deals and donating all proceeds to a local non profit. We would love to donate to an organization that provides opportunities to Young women of color interested in becoming entrepreneurs. If you have any suggestions on non profits for us to donate to or licensed and complaint tincture companies, please tag them below. #cannabiscommunity#integrityovereverything#magnoliaoakland”