Gender parity, social justice, and environmental sustainability?
Yes, yes, and yes.
Mary Janes: The Women of Weed screened at the first-ever Palm Springs Cannabis Film Festival this past weekend. Producer and Director Windy Borman began the film’s journey as a woman who had never tried cannabis. Now a daily cannabis consumer, Windy created the term Puffragette, a person who is focused on gender parity, social justice, and environmental sustainability in the cannabis industry.
Mary Janes: The Women of Weed highlights successful women in the industry while taking you through Windy’s discovery of the benefits of cannabis and the problems the industry is facing. The documentary is inspirational, educational, hilarious, and provides a comprehensive breakdown of how the War on Drugs led to limited medical cannabis research and racial disparity within the industry.
The film covers how black and brown people are targeted for cannabis crimes at a disproportionate rate, as well as legislation that prohibits people with previous cannabis-related offenses from owning cannabis businesses; a combination that sidelines black and brown people from legally participating in the burgeoning industry.
It’s refreshing to see cannabis businesswomen being intimate about their cannabis use. Legendary Wanda James, known for being the first and (so far) only black woman to own a dispensary in Colorado, took her first on-camera toke for the film. There’s a pressure to be professional and serious for many industry leaders; add in being a black and a woman and it’s more than understandable why Wanda had never smoked on camera prior to Mary Janes: The Women of Weed
Mary Janes: The Women of Weed began filming in 2016- Windy’s team had expected the US to welcome in our first woman president. However, when the presidential election results were announced, the documentary took a turn. Refocusing the documentary did not diminish the powerful message; women are taking stakes and flourishing in the cannabis industry.
A clear takeaway from Mary Janes: The Women of Weed is not just that men and women need to invest in women-owned businesses; black and brown people deserve fair treatment from law enforcement and equal opportunity in entering the cannabis industry.
Join the #Puffragette movement
Instagram: @maryjanesfilm
Twitter: @maryjanesfilm
And don’t miss your chance to catch a screening of the film!
- Artemis Film Festival 4/27 and 4/29 in Santa Monica, CA
- Indo Expo SF 4/28 in Richmond, CA
https://youtube.com/watch?v=QlZBvfQgHC4
By Cara Anderson
IG: @carajojo
