PRESS RELEASE: Melissa Etheridge Models Female Leadership in the Legal Cannabis Industry

Grammy® Award-winning singer-songwriter Etheridge joins the cast of “ganjaprenuers” who appear in “Mary Janes: The Women of Weed”, a groundbreaking documentary about women in the weed business.

Denver, CO, January 10, 2016 – DVA Productions has wrapped Production on its latest documentary, MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED, with a powerful interview from Melissa Etheridge.

In October 2004, Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer, a battle she ultimately won with the help of medical cannabis. In 2016 she launched Etheridge Farms, her own cannabis line of products, which focuses on health, wellness and a return to plant medicine.

“We are extremely honored and grateful to include Melissa Etheridge in MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED,” says Director Windy Borman. “As a musician, artist, activist and entrepreneur, she is a role model for female leadership and corporate social responsibility in the budding cannabis industry.”

Melissa Etheridge says, “There’s so much opportunity in the cannabis industry because it has not been set up within the old world male business paradigm. Women can grow it, heal with it, and now, in America, you can make a business.”

MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED follows female “ganjapreneurs” as they navigate the highs and lows of the legal cannabis industry in the United States. Their combined experience with the medical, legal, technical, scientific and business aspects of cannabis paints a multidimensional portrait of what it really takes to be “The Women of Weed”.

MARY JANES began Production in February 2016 in Denver at the Women Grow Leadership Summit. Over the course of the year, they interviewed 40 women of weed across 10 states, including Massachusetts and California, where voters approved adult use of marijuana on Election Night 2016.

“While the majority of Americans agree with overturning cannabis prohibition, the country is bitterly divided over who should run it,” says Borman. “Now more than ever, it is important to highlight female leadership and celebrate the positive progress we’ve made toward human rights, social justice and environmental sustainability. These will persevere no matter who’s in the White House.”

Melissa Etheridge is a two-time Grammy® Award-winning singer-songwriter, as well as a human rights and social justice activist. She has not shied away from revealing her sexual orientation, nor the truths about climate change, the second of which earned her an Academy^® Award for her song “I Need to Wake Up,” written for the documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth”.

MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED interviewed Etheridge while on tour for her new album, “Memphis Rock & Soul”. The film is currently in Post-production and will announce its world premiere in 2017.

Donations to MARY JANES are tax-deductible through Green Planet Films, a 501(c)3 organization, at: <http://MaryJanesFilm.com>.

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Press Links:

Website: http://MaryJanesFilm.com

Facebook: http://Facebook.com/MaryJanesFilm

Twitter and Instagram: @MaryJanesFilm

 

About MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED:

MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED follows female “ganjapreneurs” as they navigate the “budding” marijuana industry in the United States. Their combined experience with the medical, legal, technical, scientific and business aspects of cannabis paint a multidimensional portrait of the what it really takes to be “The Women of Weed”.

Along the way, we meet lawyers, doctors, patients, legalization advocates, parents, and teachers who demystify the legal marijuana industry. We’ll discuss how the “War on Drugs” created new “Jim Crow laws”, and the parallels between women leading the way to overturn alcohol prohibition and ending marijuana prohibition. Finally, we’ll highlight female-led businesses that are instilling social responsibility into their foundations and the successes these garner. By the end, we hope female and male audiences become educated voters and empowered entrepreneurs in any industry they choose.