It was a certainty. Canada’s cannabis industry was going to be enormous. It was supposed to create more than 150,000 jobs with products and brands that would disrupt the booze sector, smash the stoner culture stigma and heal the masses with therapeutic and pain-relieving innovations.
To learn more about the situation, we spoke with three women — on the condition of anonymity — about their experiences in the industry. These are their stories. This was only the tip of the iceberg. As they got closer to the IPO, Amy says she realized the CEO wasn’t listening to her suggestions — or perhaps he never had been. Working 12-hour days, seven days a week, she says raising money suddenly became more challenging — they were far from the only startup in the green rush.
“It wasn’t supposed to be a job. It was just supposed to be a two-week thing,” she says. “So I went in there and I just found it absolutely fascinating. Even though I’d grown up in Kelowna — I know this sounds crazy — I’d never seen a cannabis plant in my life.” “They had their crews. Certain people had axes to grind with other people — someone had even taken a hit out on someone when they were working,” she claims.
“The first time it happened, I was in the vault with my manager and one of my colleagues,” she says. “And I said, ‘What about a PIC?’ And my manager said, ‘Oh, screw the rules.’” Documentation in tow, Jennifer filed three Worksafe BC claims and a Human Rights Tribunal complaint. In exchange for dropping the claims, she was given an undisclosed sum of money.
Through it all, Eva tried to play it cool, “It was insane. I would jokingly, like a female, be like, ‘Now now boys, there’s a lady here, you can’t talk like that.’” “I would go to my manager, and I’d be like, ‘I can’t live at home. It’s not a good thing for me right now. I need a raise,’” she says. More than once, they responded with, “Why doesn’t your mom buy you a condo?”
“I got to the point where I didn’t know what to do, and would be like, ‘Just read the manual,’” she says. “I’d be struggling, like ‘What size font this is supposed to be? What colours are we supposed to do — please help.’ And they’d be like, ‘Sorry, I gotta go, I have a kid. You got this.’ I’d be in the office sometimes until midnight. I’d have like 20-hour days. And I’m still getting $47,500.”
TheGrowthOp Woman are leaving the cannabis industry, because green gold is crashing? 🤔 Opportunists? Industry crashing, so seeking CEO elsewhere. Canopy greenhouse closing down, laying off hundreds:
TheGrowthOp Marijuana policy was poorly implemented by JustinTrudeau Bill_Morneau
TheGrowthOp It was? Lol