Book Project

Funded by the National Science Foundation, my book project investigates gendered racial inequity in the U.S. cannabis industry by foregrounding the racially diverse experiences of women.​

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To uncover how race and gender shape women's opportunities and obstacles in this newly legal industry, I immersed myself in California's cannabis market for over a year, working retail in dispensaries, analyzing advertising and political campaigns, and interviewing 59 women workers, executives, and entrepreneurs.

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I show how cannabis businesses use race and gender to promote and legitimize a quasi-legal, socially stigmatized market. This creates structural and ideological barriers on the path to participating legally in this industry, which privilege white and class-privileged individuals in dynamically gendered ways.​

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This research calls for the development of new cannabis policy frameworks that prioritize redressing state violence and fostering social equity and transformative justice in a post-prohibition era. ​

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 [Illustration by Curt Merlo.]