“MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED”, an award-winning documentary about women leading the cannabis industry, honors CannaMoms this Mother’s Day
Mothers break the silence and the stigma of the “Just Say No” era, which still inhibits women from buying cannabis.
[Portland, OR], May 7, 2021 – Gender equity and cannabis take center stage in Mary Janes: The Women of Weed. Grammy® Award-winning singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge and other “women of weed”, many of whom are mothers, show how legal cannabis is not only an industry, but also a movement of dedicated, visionary “Puffragettes®”. After garnering “Best Documentary” and “Visionary” awards on the film festival circuit, the film debuted on AppleTV, GooglePlay, Vimeo, and Vudu in time for Mother’s Day.
“Women have stepped up in untold ways over the past year,” says Borman. “From working on the frontlines of the pandemic and the movements for racial justice, to caring for their families while working from home, all womxn deserve huge thanks for their perseverance. This Mother’s Day we honor all mothers—from biological mothers and adoptive parents, to dog moms and plant moms. ”
Mothers have not always publicly embraced cannabis. Until recently, women have been more likely to vote against marijuana legalization. However, once they saw how the War on Drugs harmed communities, wasted resources, and ruined lives, they began to support legalization. While it is becoming more socially acceptable for women to admit using cannabis, in many states women can lose their home, their job, and their children because laws have not evolved as quickly as society. Brave women are breaking the stigma of the “Just Say No” era by speaking out.
“Women, and mothers especially, stand to be one of the most collectively pivotal voices in the sector of drug law reform and it is essential that we are civically engaged in this area,” says cannabis activist Leah Maurer, who is a mother of three and co-owner of The Weed Blog. “Access to legalized, quality cannabis is important for mothers, whether it is for their own mental or physical health needs, or for those in their family.”
Mary Janes: The Women of Weed, Borman’s third documentary, explores the movement to end marijuana prohibition, her own relationship to the plant, and the stereotypes surrounding it. Through a series of empowering and educational interviews with a broad diversity of women leading the industry today, Windy’s own assumptions are transformed as she discovers cannabis liberation intersects with the most urgent social justice issues of our time. She learns how this green revolution has big effects on Mother Earth, the War on Drugs, and the destructive domination of Big Pharma.
“Being a mother makes me thankful for a legal, regulated market that restricts access and marketing (although sometimes we go overboard!),” says drug policy activist and attorney Shaleen Title. “I hope our children collectively continue our fight.”
Originally a cannabis outsider, Borman became intrigued by the cannabis industry when she learned women represent 37% of senior leadership in cannabis. The national average is 21%, so there was something about cannabis which attracted more female entrepreneurs. She set out to answer this question by interviewing over 40 women across the United States. By looking at the intersection of gender parity, social justice, and environmental sustainability, Borman explores how cannabis is not only an industry, but also a movement of dedicated and visionary women she calls “Puffragettes®” (as in Pot + Suffragette).
“The film serves as a curated collection of the visionary women who birthed the cannabis movement and nurtured the legal cannabis industry we see today. It is a celebration, a time capsule, and a roadmap for where we still need to go,” says Borman.
Women are changing the face of today’s fastest growing industry – cannabis. Join us as we discover how they’re also changing the world.
Qualified press can email <press@maryjanesfilm.com> to request a film screener.
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Press Links:
Website: https://maryjanesfilm.com/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/MaryJanesFilm
Twitter and Instagram: @MaryJanesFilm
Official Trailer: YouTube
About MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED
Women are changing the face of today’s fastest growing industry – cannabis. Join filmmaker Windy Borman as she explores the movement to end marijuana prohibition, her own relationship to the plant, and the stereotypes surrounding it. By interviewing women leading the industry, Windy discovers cannabis liberation intersects with the most urgent social justice issues of our time.
About Producer / Writer / Director Windy Borman
Windy Borman, MS, is a multi-award-winning film Director and Producer, as well as the founder of DVA Productions. Her recent projects include: directing and producing the 10-time award-winning film, “The Eyes of Thailand”, narrated by Ashley Judd; and producing “The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia”, which premiered at Sundance and on HBO. From 2003-2005, Ms. Borman dedicated two years of her life to Teach For America, teaching middle school Drama and Dance in the South Bronx. She founded DVA Productions in 2006.
