Jay Jackson, who\u2019s also known as Laganja Estranja, rose to fame as the undeniable breakout star on season six of the Emmy-winning RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race. The world-renowned choreographer and artist is a fierce cannabis and LGBTQ+ advocate who champions diversity and representation for the cannabis industry\u2019s queer community. Estranja came out as transgender in 2021 and says she\u2019s using her platform to educate the industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason we have medical marijuana is because of the queer community,\u201d Estranja says. \u201cI felt a lineage\u2014like my ancestors called me to do this work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Estranja started using cannabis medicinally in high school to help unblock her creativity while working on a dance piece that would land her a spot on the prestigious list of US Presidential Scholars in the Arts, one of the highest honors a young artist can receive. \u201cI couldn\u2019t figure out a part of the choreography, so my friend suggested I try cannabis,\u201d she says. \u201cIt allowed me to be more creative and freed my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, in college, an accident during dance rehearsal led her to see a chiropractor who suggested using cannabis for pain management. It was a pivotal moment in her affinity with the plant. \u201cI realized then that this wasn\u2019t only medicine; I could also use it recreationally or creatively,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s when I developed a much stronger relationship with cannabis and decided to create Laganja Estranja and spread that knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Estranja acknowledges gender bias in the industry has improved in the past decade, she also says she believes \u201csexism and misogyny are still very much alive in the cannabis industry\u201d and that women must fight harder for equality.<\/p>\n
She especially would like to see more sisterhood support among women in the business.
\u201cA lot of times, women have to fight so hard to get into the industry that there\u2019s not always camaraderie among us,\u201d Estranja says. \u201cAs women, we\u2019ve got to come together and support one another. When we\u2019re in positions of power, hire other women.\u201d<\/p>\n
She offers sage advice for other women looking to enter the industry: \u201cDo your research, be educated on the plant and be prepared to come with guns blazing. Ultimately, you must be brave\u2014it takes a lot of bravery to be a cannabis activist\u2014especially as a queer woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story was originally published in issue 48 of the\u00a0print edition<\/a>\u00a0of Cannabis Now. Read it now on the Cannabis Now\u00a0iTunes app<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Women of Influence: Laganja Estranja<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Jay Jackson, who\u2019s also known as Laganja Estranja, rose to fame as the undeniable breakout star on season six of the Emmy-winning RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race. The world-renowned choreographer and artist is a fierce cannabis and LGBTQ+ advocate who champions diversity and representation for the cannabis industry\u2019s queer community. Estranja cameContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,17331,85,17360,10043,510,4229,5429,1319,16958,17223],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68249"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/234"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68249"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68250,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68249\/revisions\/68250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Women of Influence: Laganja Estranja<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"