The Need for Weed: What These 4 Women Are Doing To Get You High

By Danielle

The first image of a marijuana supporter in your mind is probably a young adult stoner. Chances are, you wouldn’t picture a 40-something business woman. Just because you probably wouldn’t catch these women hot boxing in their Hondas doesn’t mean they aren’t advocates for marijuana. In fact, these women are well educated and very successful in their careers. I’m not saying pot smokers aren’t either of those things (hello James Franco!), but it probably isn’t the first characteristic that comes to mind. Marie Claire has named these women “the four most influential ladies of cannabis”. Here’s the low down on these four “green queens”.

Alison Holcomb, 44

-Drug policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington State

-One of the core hands in creating the Washington Initiative 502 (Marijuana Reform)

-She was a trial lawyer for 13 years

-Stanford University graduate

-”Marijuana on the black market means sending money to murderers.”

Dale Sky Jones, 37

-Executive chancellor at Oaksterdam University

-Director of patient advocacy and public relations for the Medical Cannabis Association

-Chairwoman of the Coalition of Cannabis Policy Reform

-Held management positions in retail & hospitality companies

-University of Central Florida graduate

-”I saw patients who once needed 40 bottles of pain medication almost go drug-free thanks to cannabis.”

Betty Aldworth, 36

-Deputy director at the National Cannabis Industry Association

-Specializes in community outreach, public relations, and advocacy to cannabis-related businesses and other non-profit organizations

-Deep Springs College graduate

-”They (law enforcement) decry illegal grows by drug cartels in neighbourhoods and national forests, yet seem oblivious to the fact that regulating the production of marijuana is the only way to eliminate this elicit cultivation.”

Genifer Murrary, 42

-CEO of CannLabs, a cannabis testing / medical marijuana test lab

-Part of Colorado state’s Criminal Law Task Force Working Group for Amendment 64

-Colorado State University graduate

-On why she’s into testing: “I’ve seen stuff grow on houses – oh my God, you don’t even want to know about. I’ve seen cans of bug spray next to marijuana, plants covered in powdery mildew and lax sanitation. Everybody is entitled to a safe and effective product, and right now it’s completely hit and miss”.