Meat Covered Woman at Cannabis Party Sparks Controversy

Professionals in the cannabis industry continue to advocate to stop the objectification of women in order to sell cannabis and related products, however a recent stunt at a cannabis party seems to set the progress back a little, according to Her Canna Life.

Altai Brands and Dixie Brands sponsored an event during the Marijuana Business Conference & Expo was happening in Las Vegas last week. A woman in a bikini was hired to lay on a table with deli meats draped over her body. Once the picture hit social media, there was strong opposition to the practice, and many people called to boycott both Altai Brands and Dixie Brands.

Robert Weakley is the CEO of Altai Brands, and shortly after the event concluded, he apologized for his company’s actions in a statement. “This experience has been humbling and eye opening and I personally take full responsibility and apologize to all attendees, customers, the cannabis community and the females in my life,” Weakley said. “I could try to explain what we were thinking but that would be pointless as there is no excuse—it was a bad choice and it was offensive.”

Marijuana Business Daily is a woman-owned business that hosted the Marijuana Business Conference & Expo. Cassandra Farrington is the Chief Executive Operator and Co-Founder of the online publication and she shared her company’s disapproval of this type of behavior.

“Marijuana Business Daily does not support or condone any of these actions nor was involved with these events in any way,” Farrington stated. “We are a woman-owned business, have written numerous articles decrying sexism in the cannabis industry, called out other events that behaved poorly with respect to women . . . and have set and enforced clear policies for our events that do not allow for objectification of women or men in exhibitor booths or on the show floor.”

It’s clear that this decision was poorly made and very degrading. As members of the cannabis community, we need to avoid objectifying any person and make sure our industry does not treat any person as a means to an end.