{"id":13400,"date":"2019-01-22T13:00:27","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T18:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/?p=13400"},"modified":"2019-02-22T06:12:38","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T11:12:38","slug":"the-persisting-gap-in-cannabis-so-far-black-folk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/2019\/01\/22\/the-persisting-gap-in-cannabis-so-far-black-folk\/","title":{"rendered":"The Persisting Gap in Cannabis So Far: Black Folk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The cannabis industry is growing fast. But Black representation in the industry<\/a> is a slow creep.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps my suburban upbringing as allowed me to adapt to being one of but a few Black faces in a room. But it still feels lonely as all hell when you don\u2019t see people who look like you in a space you want to call home.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a Black female medical cannabis patient in Maryland<\/a> since December 2018 and freelance cannabis marketing writer circa August 2018.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My direct experience with dispensaries has solidified a truth.
Cannabis needs more Black people. Because here\u2019s the current condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cannaclusive
Photo Credit: Cannaclusive<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My Black legal medical cannabis patient perspective<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Seeing Black employees in a dispensary is one of the first signs I look for that I\u2019m welcomed in that space.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I officially became a medical cannabis patient on December 14, 2018, so at the time of this writing it\u2019s been about 30 days since approval. I\u2019ve been to 6 different dispensaries: Pure Life Wellness<\/a>, Nature\u2019s Medicines<\/a>, The Botanist<\/a>, Trilogy Wellness<\/a>, Peake Releaf<\/a> and KIP<\/a>.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pure Life Wellness had no Black staff I\u2019ve seen after two visits. The staff were relatively friendly, but I had to find comfort in the other Black patients.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had fun and felt mostly at-home during my first visit at Nature\u2019s Medicines, but I only saw one racially ambiguous woman of color there.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trilogy and Peake Releaf provided my most positive experiences with how welcoming they are and the great deals they offer. Trilogy could stand to have some Black women on deck.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have a healthy blend of Blackness on the floor and I feel like I\u2019m with family when I chop it up with their budtenders.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KIP was overflowing with Black employees during their open house and they gave me the warmest vibes\u2026 Despite my initial encounter with them as a freelancer. More on that later.
The Botanist is out-of-place despite existing in a Black neighborhood and shopping center. They rarely offer significant deals and there\u2019s rarely anything special about their stock. Plus, they dropped their best <\/em>budtender, a Black woman who made their shop personal and exceptional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cannaclusive\"
Photo Credit: Cannaclusive<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As a patient, I want to feel that dispensaries are prioritizing my needs and comfort. And lacking diverse staff takes away from that.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even more so when there\u2019s a lack Blacks in management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engaging with the cannabis industry as a Black freelancer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s great to have front-facing Black staff to make patients feel at ease. But if you\u2019re working in the cannabis industry, it matters even more to see people like you in positions of power.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I have run into little with dispensaries.
As a freelance writer, my money comes from finding prospective clients and initiating contact for possible partnerships. The number of Black cannabiz owners is growing, but I don\u2019t see many Black marketing managers or publication editors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cannaclusive\"
Photo Credit: Cannaclusiv<\/a>e<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I am predominantly reaching out to White people for work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I barely see other Black freelancers in cannabis to connect with.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was especially jarring when I met with KIP last year and the only Black person I spoke to was the receptionist. It was extra off-putting since the management-level White employees I spoke with weren\u2019t from the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We need more of us in cannabis.  We need more Black folk in management roles in dispensaries.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need more Black folk who own dispensaries. We need more Black entrepreneurs<\/a> to take the leap into this space.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a world of opportunity in cannabis–it qualifies as a (very small) form of reparations<\/a>. Namely since this industry was built off of our community going to prison and rotting for a plant.  
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s force dispensaries to diversify and get the bag by making our own businesses.
Because we belong here. And our time, money and need for healing must be respected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaina Dorse<\/a><\/strong>y<\/a> is a freelance writer, specializing in cannabis. Based out of Baltimore Marlyand. She’s contibuted to Leafly, Pure CBD Vapors, Pure CBD Vapors & more. <\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The cannabis industry is growing fast. But Black representation in the industry is a slow creep. Perhaps my suburban upbringing as allowed me to adapt to being one of but a few Black faces in a room. But it still feels lonely as all hell when you don\u2019t see people who look like you in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":13401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1015,305,6],"tags":[1436,397,4241],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13400"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13400"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13946,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13400\/revisions\/13946"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}