Female spark in industry

A new chapter of a marijuana organization is hoping to drag the pot industry out of the underground and push it toward a more professional and respectable level in British Columbia.

Women Grow, an organization for women interested in the industry, opened its first chapter in Denver, Colo., in 2014, after pot was legalized there. Thirty-two other chapters have popped up throughout the United States in the past year.

Now the Liberals have taken power in Ottawa with a promise of legalizing pot, chapters have begun showing up in Canada.

“(The industry) is exploding right now, and we’re about to see the prohibition end on a national level in Canada, which is huge,” said Kaleigh Herald, chair of the Kootenay chapter. “There really is a huge lack of regulation that’s going on right now, and this group, we feel, will really help push the industry in, what we consider to be, a professional, respectable and compassionate manner.”

The chapter will host monthly meetings, with the first on Jan. 7 at the Hume Hotel in Nelson, where experts will talk about the industry.

“There’s going to be presentations from a local educator, Kim Leslie, who will be talking about ... how our bodies work with cannabis, we’re going to have someone talking about hemp manufacturing, and hopefully someone from city council talking about regulations, so it really touches on pretty much every aspect of this industry right now,” said Herald.

She said the industry has been mired by the illegality of the plant, and the culture that surrounds it. 

“This group essentially totally professionalizes the industry,” she said. “It’s really important we move away from this negative stoner stigma that’s surrounded the industry for years.”

There are currently chapters in Vancouver and Toronto, and the Kootenay chapter will be Canada’s third. An Okanagan chapter is also in the works.

Herald says the group hopes to encourage women to join an industry where women are already strongly represented.

“This industry is already quite influenced by females, and lot of people don’t know that,” she said. “It’s the women that are making the healthcare decisions for their families, it’s the women that are also taking the cannabis themselves and lot of the women have leadership roles in the industry.”

Despite the Liberal’s campaign promise, pot still remains illegal.

“Being taken seriously is always tough, but that's the whole point of starting this group,” Herald said. “Luckily, being in Nelson, and being in this community that is overall open, not just to cannabis, but to entrepreneurs in general, it’s been good.”