Mujeres De Marijuana: Latinas in Cannabis & Family Stigmas

Jazmin Aguiar is a Latina working in the cannabis industry. Photo by Mike Reza.

Jazmin Aguiar, 38, has consumed cannabis since she was 18 years old. She worried about being labeled a “marihuana” or “buena para nada” by her family. Like in most Latinx families, judgment around cannabis is passed through the Bible and a fear of their children being associated with “drugs.” 

Aguiar is among the increasing number of Latinas working in the cannabis industry. They are defying gender and cultural stereotypes to give Latinas a voice in a white male-dominated industry.

Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, cannabis was easily accessible, making her aware of the perceptions it would have. She entered the cannabis industry in 2012, leaving her corporate banking job behind to become an advocate, expert and entrepreneur in cannabis.

She kept her new career path a secret until her parents found out she was featured on Spanish-language television in late 2013. 

“I started this behind my parent’s back because I knew they would be pissed,” Aguiar said. 

The piece aired on Telemundo and Univision, highlighting the growing for-profit cannabis industry, focusing on women’s desires to enter the business and information about how to complete the process. 

Fearful that her family might see the media coverage, Aguiar asked producers to air it on the 10 p.m. news. She knew her parents would be asleep and that they routinely watched the 6 p.m. broadcast.

“Quiero que me expliques qué estabas haciendo anoche en las noticias,” was her parents’ response, demanding that she explains what she was doing on the news last night. A cousin had ratted her out, unveiling her secret. 

Her parents were very upset, this being the first conversation of many, it was difficult for both parties. They wondered about the kind of example she was setting for her siblings, being the eldest of four. They started to think that everything they had sacrificed had gone to waste. To make matters worse, Aguiar’s family was getting backlash about it from outside the family. She was equated to someone who worked with the cartel or a drug addict. She was labeled a bad influence by family friends. 

Aguiar used this as a teaching moment. She took all her knowledge and experience in the business to educate her parents about the amazing business opportunities the cannabis industry has to offer. After years of difficult conversations, her business-minded parents came around and are now her biggest supporters. 

Aguiar currently operates a 15,000 sq ft facility in Downtown Los Angeles that is soon to house multiple businesses including cultivation, retail and distribution. She has organized women in cannabis campaigns and events as co-founder of Women Grow and CannabiSalud, which hosts summits for various business professionals. She has also translated much of the cannabis regulation documents into Spanish, something that had not been done yet. 

For Mala Muñoz, cannabis is part of her comedy and brand. Photo by Mike Reza.

Aguiar partners with women like Mala Muñoz, who hosts a cannabis-centric podcast, and Stevona Delgado, a cannabis brand ambassador. These women working in the industry are dedicated to changing the stigmas around cannabis through education and advocacy. 

Mala Muñoz is a writer, comedian and podcaster whose show “Marijuanera: A Podcast for Potheads,” looks to dissolve the negativity that comes with the moniker. She has been featured in Variety and on the cover of Brown Girl Travels talking about her podcast and involvement in the industry. As a student at Tufts University, she began smoking cannabis with classmates, but her experience with the plant comes from a series of boyfriends who smoked. 

Cannabis is a part of her brand, it is all over the internet, so her parents are aware of her use. 

“These are things they wouldn’t want me to do, you know? So, in finding success in other areas, they sort of leave me alone,” Muñoz said about their response to her cannabis use. 

Muñoz recalled having a conversation with her dad—who is sober—where he mentioned noticing her face after a “session.” He told her he could tell she had just smoked, and the stigma was felt through clear tacit disapproval. But because it pays her bills and cannabis is legal in California, they are more at ease.

She looks to empower women and weed smokers alike. She notes that there are many Latinas working in the retail side of things where they are subject to harassment and sexism. Like Aguiar, she believes that there is protection in ownership, which are the issues that her podcast, though rooted in comedy, also conveys. 

Stevona Delgado is a stand-up comedian and brand ambassador for High Seas Cannabis. Her job is to promote brand awareness on the ground floor by speaking to customers and educating them on their products. 

Stevona Delgado hopes to combat some of the stigma around cannabis. Photo by Mike Reza.

She began smoking cannabis only after her brother broke the barrier with her family. Her mother was lenient on him, stating: “he's an adult, he pays his own bills. If he's not going to jail, if he's not being a menace to society, I don’t care.” In her household, drinking was more of an issue. 

On her father’s side of the family, cannabis “was the devil,” she learned this after a cousin was busted for smoking at Thanksgiving dinner. Delgado’s father passed away before they had a conversation about her usage and, given that he was less lenient than her mother, she says she was thankful because “there’s a lot of things he wouldn’t be happy about.”

She is a believer that if you’re taking care of business, the stigmas of cannabis can be overlooked. If you look presentable and are productive as a stoner, nobody can tell you that what you are doing is wrong. As a comic, she uses cannabis as a resource, a way to bond with comedians, network and as an effective tool to write new material. 

These three Latinas are just some of the women in the cannabis industry who are educating and advocating against the stigmas our parents have grown up with. They are consumers and successful Latinas in cannabis who are creating a space for women in this male-dominated community. 

“It's legal. There are dispensaries, they look like Apple Stores. This is a lifestyle, and this is a community, and it doesn’t have to be some dark, dirty, ugly thing that is in the shadows or under the sink. We can be out here and be, we can have fun with it and consume responsibly,” Muñoz said about the changing landscape of regulated cannabis as it relates to our parents in the Latinx community.