Follow Her Lead: The Women Who Paved the Way for the Modern Cannabis Movement

While so many of the world’s true trailblazers have been women, too often they are left in history’s footnotes. But here at Unity Rd., we are hoping to change that!

This Women’s History Month, we give high thanks and praise to a few of the pioneers that made an impact on the cannabis industry. You may not know their names yet, but their work unequivocally paved the way – and made good times and good health available to many. 

Margaret Mead – Intrepid Anthropologist

Margaret Mead was a household name in the late 60s, mostly for her pioneering work in cultural anthropology. Her first published work, on adolescent girls in Samoa, upended gender stereotypes and was credited with contributing to the sexual revolution in the 60s. Her attitude at the time was remarkably progressive – and brave – for a distinguished scientist and woman to boot. Mead testified before Congress in favor of legalization on October 27, 1969, and told Newsweek in 1970 that she had tried it once herself.

In her testimony*, she reported,

“It is my considered opinion at present that marihuana [sic] is not harmful unless it is taken in enormous and excessive amounts. I believe that we are damaging this country, damaging our law, our whole law enforcement situation, damaging the trust between the older people and younger people by its prohibition, and this is far more serious than any damage that might be done to a few over users because you can get damage from any kind of overuse.”

“We occasionally find a society that will reject anything that leads to any kind of ecstatic state or of people ever getting outside of themselves,” she continued.

“But in general man has sought for ways of changing his moods, of making it possible for him to work longer than he could, to stay up longer than he could, to get through a meeting or a tremendous bout of work better than he could have otherwise....In the West Indies, people smoke marihuana to get through a hard day’s work and after they have done the hard day’s work they smoke another bit of marihuana to relax and enjoy the evening.”

Her progressive views eventually led her to being the subject of some controversy, but over the arc of history, she has remained a well-respected trailblazer who challenged cultural mores at a time when doing so was professionally perilous.

Allyn Howlett – Visionary Neuroscientist 

Neuropharmacologist Allyn Howlett’s groundbreaking work led to radical advancements in our understanding of cannabis’s effects on the brain. Her findings in the 1980s from her lab at Saint Louis University uncovered solid evidence for the existence of cannabinoid receptor CB1.

Aside from her incredible discovery of the CB1 receptor, Allyn has also worked to develop a deeper understanding of cannabinoid receptors that have aided other researchers worldwide. Her ongoing research – now based at Wake Forest School of Medicine in North Carolina, works to target neurons in the brain that promote therapeutically beneficial actions but diminish the activity of neurons that produce unintended side effects.

Dr. Howlett’s work is expected to have significant implications for the development of future cannabinoid medicines.  

Mary Jane Rathbun – Grass Roots Advocate 

This compassionate early advocate for legalization became famous for handing cannabis-infused brownies to relieve the pain and nausea of San Francisco hospital patients during the AIDS epidemic. From her base of operations in the early years of the crisis at San Francisco General Hospital, she volunteered for some 10 years, devoting untold hours to help care for ''her kids,'' as the patients came to be known.

Her role as a baker was only part of her story, though. She became a San Francisco icon for whom the city fathers created an official “Brownie Mary Day” in 1992 to honor her work with patients dying of AIDS–during a time that that group had received little empathy or understanding. Her legalization campaigns and subsequent arrests helped build support for the 1996 California State initiative that made the use of cannabis conditionally legal, allowing consumption by the terminally ill with a doctor's consent.

Without a doubt, the state of cannabis would be far from its current incarnation without the early advocacy and tireless support of these, and countless other, brave pioneers. They rejected conventional wisdom, put their livelihoods and reputations on the line, and pushed the stringent boundaries of social norms.

Hats off, ladies. This month and beyond we celebrate you.

*COMPETITIVE PROBLEMS IN THE DRUG INDUSTRY HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON MONOPOLY OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS UNITED STATES SENATE NINETY-FIRST CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON PRESENT STATUS OF COMPETITION IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1969UNITED STATES SENATE Washington, D.C. U.S. Congress, Senate Committee Hearings, Senate Library Volume 2028, 1969 [Dr. Margaret Mead]