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Susie Plascencia, like many of us, hid her consumption of cannabis for years because of the stigmas associated with it. Although the plant functioned as medicine for her — helping to uplift her mood, ease anxiety, and improve sleep — she was very aware of the taboos that were tied to cannabis use and the ugly history that Black and Brown communities have faced in the war on drugs.
"The war on drugs caused disproportionate harm to Black and Brown communities," Plascencia, the founder of Latinas in Cannabis says. "As an entrepreneur and communications professional who's passionate about the economic advancement of the Latino community, I sought to work in a fast-growing industry that would address our country's history of social inequity and help create sustainable jobs."
In 2012, Colorado and Washington were the first states to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Today, 24 states and Washington, DC, have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, and another 14 states have legalized it for medical use only. This means that more than half of Americans (54 percent) live in a state where the recreational use of marijuana is legal. As the prevalence of legalized recreational marijuana use in the United States continues to grow, the communities disproportionately impacted by the consequences of cannabis use when it wasn't legal are nearly obsolete in this new, expansive, multi-million-dollar industry.
In 2020, the same year Plascencia launched Latinas in Cannabis on Instagram, the American Civil Liberties Union released a report that found that due to racial profiling and bias in marijuana enforcement, Black people are 3.6 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, despite similar usage rates. This disparity has not improved over the last decade, and in fact, disparities have actually worsened in most states.
The disparities continue today, and over the past five years, federal offenders sentenced for marijuana possession were largely Latine (70.8 percent). Although legalization is taking place across the United States, prior marijuana possession sentences still weigh heavily on mainly Black and Latine men.
These disparities and the stigmas associated with cannabis overall are largely why Plascencia hid her personal relationship with cannabis for so long.
"I've always been serious about my education and career," says Plascencia, who holds a master of arts in specialized journalism and a bachelor of arts in public relations from the University of Southern California. "I chose to hide my cannabis consumption for years precisely because I felt that if my peers found out I was a consumer, it would cast doubt on my ability to perform as an executive."
Eventually, she pushed that doubt aside to launch Latinas in Cannabis. The business pulled her out of the shadows of enjoying the plant quietly and privately to being more public about her personal experience with it. The Mexicana from Cali knew she had managerial skills and an entrepreneurial mindset to be successful, as she was already the founder and CEO of NightShift Digital, a boutique brand development agency serving clients in tech, non-profit, wellness, cannabis, and cannabis-adjacent industries. But she wanted to do something to directly and positively impact her community, remove the stigmas around cannabis, and educate the Latine community about this growing multi-million dollar industry.
Plascencia's foundation for success began with her father, who didn't consume cannabis but acknowledged the medicinal and holistic benefits of it given his work in the medical field.
"When I began to use cannabis more openly, he was more curious than surprised," she recalls. "He raised me to be responsible, so he trusted my judgment."
She adds that following her business's early successes, her father praised her for it. She acknowledges how grateful and lucky she is to have a father who is understanding and open-minded and not culturally driven by machismo and inflexibility. This gave her the confidence to continue and to navigate her friends' perceptions of the cannabis industry.
"For many on the outside, working in the cannabis industry can seem elusive and flashy. In reality, it's an industry like any other, just with a lot more compliance, scrutiny, and stigma," she says.
One of the biggest challenges she has faced is diversifying the cannabis industry from the budtender to the executive in charge.
"A large percentage of budtenders, aka the frontline employees at dispensaries who customers trust for cannabis product recommendations, identify as Latina," she says. "However, when it comes to the percentage of Latinas in cannabis industry C-suite positions, the number is much smaller."
Only 5.7 percent of all cannabis licenses are currently owned by Latines, compared to an astounding 81 percent white ownership. Plascencia experienced this firsthand when she was often the only Latina among cannabis industry decision-makers. She says she began to receive letters of admiration from other women, and their voices inspired her to dig deeper and learn the root causes of why there were so few Latinas in leadership positions, despite them being a major part of the cannabis industry workforce.
"Latinas in Cannabis was born out of a need to represent and connect Latina cannabis professionals and enthusiasts and create a safe space for consumption, networking, and community," she says. "It was also created for career development and to help bridge the gap between the budtender-to-leadership career journey."
As the industry continues to grow, the numbers don't lie. The state of New Jersey, for example, legalized recreational marijuana use in April 2022. Now, the burgeoning market has earned more than $1.3 billion since the beginning of recreational cannabis sales. And that's just one state! This is a major money-making industry, and Plascencia is making sure Latinas are a part of it.
"Our goals as an organization include helping Latinas to grow and strengthen their professional skills, build confidence and community, find their dream jobs, hire other Latinas, raise investment, invest and mentor, and so much more," she says. "We're just getting started."
Zayda Rivera is a PS contributor. She has been a professional writer for more than 20 years. Z is a certified Reiki Master-Teacher, yoga and Zumba instructor, mindfulness and meditation guide, tarot reader, and spiritual mentor
English (US) ·