Cannabis and LGBTQ culture

Cannabis symbol on pride flag

Cannabis and LGBTQ culture is the intersection of cannabis culture and LGBTQ culture. A common characteristic of advocacy for both LGBTQ rights and access to cannabis is that before about 2012 both were outside legal approval, social approval, and were on the fringe of society everywhere, ^[1] and still are in much of the world. Advocacy for the two issues combined for various reasons, including claims that cannabis is an effective treatment for relieving symptoms of AIDS, the LGBTQ community having leadership in matters of social tolerance and diversity of lifestyles, and for both LGBTQ and cannabis issues experiencing social grouping together as counterculture.

By issue

Medical

In the timeline of HIV/AIDS at the start of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s there were not available pharmaceutical treatments to address the disease or provide relief of the symptoms. Many people could use medical cannabis to get relief that they could not get in any other way. However, at that time cannabis was illegal in many places. Because LGBTQ people were disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, the LGBTQ community had a new and urgent need for access to cannabis. Activism for LGBTQ rights began to overlap with activism for access to cannabis. This LGBTQ activism for cannabis sometimes organized as clubs or social networks through which people with cannabis would distribute it to people with AIDS. ^[2] In 1990 a news report claimed that many people with HIV use cannabis for palliative care. ^[3]

LGBTQ and HIV activism greatly increased public support for access to cannabis. ^[4]

Harvey Milk and Dennis Peron were San Francisco-based LGBTQ political figures who proposed legislation for legalizing cannabis to benefit the LGBTQ community and others. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Marketplace

There is evidence which suggests that the business sector which invests into cannabis production and sales has a lower percentage of LGBTQ representation than the consumer market for cannabis products. ^{[8] [9] [10]}

There are also success stories of LGBTQ people in the cannabis industry and advocacy organizations like Proud Mary Network, and The Full Spectrum. ^{[11] [12]}

Analysis recommends marketing cannabis to LGBTQ communities. ^{[13] [14] [15]}

In the United States

People calling for the legalization of cannabis at the Twin Cities Pride Parade in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2013

Political commentators in the United States have compared the rapid changing of public opinion in the 2000s-10s on the issues of LGBTQ rights and access to cannabis. ^{[16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]} Whereas before around late 2012 both subjects were taboo in the mainstream, after that time there has been a growing trend to normalize social acceptance of both LGBTQ people and cannabis use. ^[24] Many media outlets compared the similarities of LGBTQ and cannabis advocacy. ^[25]

In the years leading to changes many reputed authorities incorrectly assessed public support for both LGBTQ and cannabis to be lower than it was. ^[26] Federal laws in the United States were more misaligned than state laws on these subjects. ^[27]

References

1. Makled, Laila; Phillips, Caroline (18 April 2019). "Claiming space for LGBTQ community in cannabis movement". Washington Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights.
2. Feldman, Harvey W.; Mandel, Jerry (June 1998). "Providing Medical Marijuana: The Importance of Cannabis Clubs". Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. 30 (2): 179–186. doi:10.1080/02791072.1998.10399688. PMID   9692380.
3. Hughes, Sallie; Natta, Jr., Don Van (20 November 1990). "Medical Necessity and Marijuana Usa". Washington Post.
4. Zane, Zachary (26 June 2018). "The Medical Marijuana Movement was at a Standstill until AIDS Activists Stepped In". www.out.com.
5. Barghouti, Jamal (29 August 2018). "The Very Queer History Behind Cannabis Legalization". www.blackbirdgo.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
6. Johnson, Lizzie (28 January 2018). "Dennis Peron, activist who helped legalize medical marijuana, dies". SFGate.
7. McClure, James (22 May 2001). "Harvey Milk's Other Civil Rights Crusade". Civilized. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
8. Love, Tessa (26 September 2017). "Why the Growing Cannabis Industry Must Be LGBTQ-Inclusive". Slate Magazine.
9. Csernyik, Rob (13 February 2019). "Is the Cannabis Community Ignoring Its LGBTQ Customers?". Leafly.
10. Bourque, Andre (18 March 2019). "The Road To National Marijuana Legalization Has Allies In The LGBTQ Community". Forbes.
11. Herrington, A. J. (5 April 2019). "LGBTQ Entrepreneurs Find Acceptance in the Cannabis Industry". High Times.
12. HI&LOW (6 June 2018). "It's Pride Month. Say Hi to LGBT Leaders in Cannabis | Emma Chasen". Hi&Low.
13. "The LGBT Community - A Potent Constituency Among Cannabis Consumers". New Frontier Data. 30 June 2017.
14. Adams, Benjamin M. (7 July 2017). "Study Finds LGBT Community Consumes Cannabis at Higher Rate than Heterosexuals". Culture Magazine.
15. "LGBTQ+ Brands to Support this Month and Beyond". Headset. 5 June 2023.
16. Clauset, Aaron; Warner, Joel (3 May 2017). "What Same-Sex Marriage Means for the Future of Weed". Pacific Standard.
17. Medina, Daniel A. (30 July 2014). "Why gay marriage has had more success than marijuana legalization, and what it tells us about America". Quartz.
18. Vakili, Keyvan; Zhang, Laurina (23 March 2018). "Research: Legal Marijuana and Gay Marriage Have Been Good for U.S. Innovation". Harvard Business Review.
19. Aleem, Zeeshan (24 October 2014). "Here's Why Marijuana Is the New Gay Marriage". mic.com.
20. "Is pot the new gay marriage?". Washington Post. 8 August 2013.
21. "Marijuana and same-sex marriage: A common path to legalization". Washington Post. 4 April 2013.
22. Drum, Kevin (2 November 2015). "This Map Shows the 11 States Where Pot Is Most Likely To Be Legalized Next". Mother Jones.
23. Cooper, Ryan (27 October 2017). "Legal pot is the new gay marriage". theweek.com.
24. Rauch, Jonathan (24 November 2018). "Legalizing Marijuana and Gay Marriage Seemed Impossible". Reason.com.
25. Lopez, German (7 November 2014). "States where you can get high at a same-sex wedding, in one chart". Vox.
26. Frank, Barney (19 August 2015). "How Gay Marriage Is Like Legalizing Pot". POLITICO Magazine.
27. Bricken, Hilary (15 September 2015). "Marijuana Legalization and Marriage Equality". Canna Law Blog.