Long before dispensaries became legal, women played leading roles in the movement to decriminalize cannabis. Though their efforts have sometimes gone unrecognized, they have helped to reshape both public perception of cannabis and the regulatory environment. Here is a look back at the history of cannabis legalization through the eyes of the women who helped make it happen.

Brownie Mary

Today’s legalized cannabis industry would probably not exist without the efforts of activist Mary Jane “Brownie Mary” Rathbun in the 1980s. A volunteer at San Francisco General Hospital, Brownie Mary, drew media attention (not all of it positive) for baking cannabis brownies and providing them to AIDS patients during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Her efforts to provide compassion and pain relief to terminal patients helped move legislators to pass the first medical cannabis laws in California in the following decade.

Beverly Moran and Imani Dawson

Legalizing medical cannabis ultimately required more than activist volunteers at hospitals; it also needed attorneys. Here, too, women have often led the way. Two NORML board members—Beverly Moran and Imani Dawson—are cases in point. 

Beverly Moran, a Professor Emerita of Law from Vanderbilt University, has advocated for equity in cannabis legalization. Imani Dawson co-founded the Cannabis Education Advocacy Symposium and Expo (CEASE) with her sister, entrepreneur Dasheeda Dawson, to help ensure legalization benefits marginalized communities that the past criminalization of cannabis has disproportionately impacted.

Meanwhile, NORML activist Ellen Komp has battled for patients’ rights and medical cannabis for decades and authored the popular book Tokin’ Women: A 400-Year Herstory of Women and Marijuana.

Rachel Gillette and Hilary Bricken

The role of women in cannabis advocacy and law didn’t end with legalization. Rachel Gillette, an attorney in New York, represented a suit against the Internal Revenue Service for penalizing a dispensary that operated in cash. 

Hilary Bricken became one of the first lawyers in the state of Washington to focus on cases in cannabis law, providing legal guidance to cannabis companies during the early days of legalization when the law remained unclear in many instances. Gillette, Bricken, and other lawyers like them have helped establish the case law and precedents that guide today’s cannabis law practice.

The Rudick Law Group

More recently, the Rudick Law Group has taken cases to prevent discrimination against women and minorities in the growing cannabis market. That’s where Rudick Law Group came in. Founded by Lauren Rudick, Jessica Gonzalez, and Fatima Afia, Rudick Law Group was one of the first cannabis law firms led by women. 

Based in New York City, the group provides legal advice and advocacy to marginalized entrepreneurs in the cannabis and younger psychedelic markets following the legalization of psychedelics in states like Oregon and Colorado.

The Entrepreneurs

Besides activists and lawyers, women lead many cannabis companies and networks. To name just a few, Gia Morón developed the organization Women Grow into a nationwide network of women cannabis entrepreneurs, and Wanda James became the first Black woman to own a legal dispensary in the United States in 2009 when she founded her company Simply Pure. Today, she serves on the University of Colorado Board of Regents, the first owner of a cannabis company to hold a publicly elected office in Colorado.

There are many others, and though they have not always received as much recognition as male advocates and business owners, women have frequently paved the way for legalization and continue to lead the growth of the cannabis industry today. One can only speculate what leaders will take up the baton and grow equitable access to cannabis tomorrow.