Popaganda: Puff, Puff Progress
This week, Popaganda’s HEAT season heads away from the fire—and marches directly toward the smoke. In this week’s episode, host Carmen Rios talks to a slew of “puffragettes” fighting to end the drug war, foster a more equitable cannabis industry and forge a feminist future in weed. 2019 has already heralded in a whole lot of victories in the fight for laws that decriminalize and legalize cannabis possession and distribution—and studies show that more women are lighting up than ever. When marijuana business boomed, the number of women in leadership positions in the industry fell, and the national patchwork of drug laws leaves people of color at risk for criminalization and incarceration every day. But women aren’t surrendering to the patriarchal and corporate forces threatening the future of cannabis. Instead, they’re organizing at the state and national level for comprehensive marijuana laws, building networks for women in the business of bud, and creating space for marginalized communities to reclaim and redefine weed culture. Carmen talks to policy experts, business leaders and community-focused stoners in this episode—digging into the importance of comprehensive drug laws with Karen O’Keefe from the Marijuana Policy Projects, talking shop with The Incubator founder Amy Margolis and Ellementa co-founder Aliza Sherman, envisioning queer cannabis culture with 420 Queer co-founder Irene Urias and appraising the landscape of the sector with Mary Janes: The Women of Weed filmmaker Windy Borman. Carmen came to every interview with the same question: What does a feminist weed culture look like? She came away with the knowledge that there are a lot of moving parts — and a lot of work ahead — in the fight to create equity in cannabis. But she’s hopeful, like the women she talks to, that the future of weed is feminist — and that together, we can take down the capitalist stoner bros trying to convince us it never was.