Blazing forward.

Stoner culture may conjure images of bros in ponchos and girls in green bikinis selling rolling papers. But female entrepreneurs in the marijuana industry are challenging that image, and cashing in while doing it.

Jack Guez / AFP / Getty Images / Getty Images

Last year, Newsweek said legal marijuana could be the first billion-dollar industry dominated by women. While we're still a year away from knowing what legalized marijuana in Canada will look like, you can bet that women will be leading the way.

"Now that we’re so close to legalization, there’s a new market emerging and I think women can play a huge part in what that can look like," said Lisa Campbell, founder of Women Grow's Toronto chapter.

Campbell, centre, at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at the Search Results
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, 2015.

Lisa Campbell

Women Grow, which started in Denver, aims to empower and educate women in the cannabis industry. Now in over 30 cities, members meet up to talk pot policy, swap small business tips, and find mentorship. Campbell said they're also working to erase the stigma attached to cannabis, since much of the industry is in a legal grey area.

"I think it’s a really powerful message of normalization to get women involved in the industry as well because there’s so much stigma," Campbell told BuzzFeed Canada.

"It’s a very different look than what the media is used to, in terms of what the stereotypical cannabis entrepreneur is."

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