Why are we so shitty to each other in the Cannabis Industry?

Let’s be honest for a minute. The cannabis industry loves to talk about community. Community over competition. Supporting small businesses. Lifting each other up. Breaking stigmas. Building something better. And then someone gets a new account, launches a product, books an event, gets featured, or posts a successful Instagram reel …and suddenly somebody is in the group chat having a fucking meltdown. Why are we like this?

The cannabis industry is full of some of the coolest, most creative, hardworking humans you’ll ever meet. It is also occasionally full of enough gossip, jealousy, gatekeeping, ego, and behind-the-scenes bullshit to rival a high school cafeteria. And honestly? We need to talk about it.

We’re supposed to be a community. Cannabis came out of a culture built around sharing. You had some? Pass it. Know someone who needed something? Introduce them. Someone had a better grow light, recipe, rolling technique, or strain recommendation? You shared the knowledge. Somewhere along the way, a lot of that “pass it around” mentality got replaced with, “How can I make sure they don’t get ahead of me?”

And that mindset is exhausting.

There’s room for more than one successful brand. There’s room for more than one creator. There’s room for more than one distributor, retailer, grower, event organizer, photographer, writer, consultant, designer, marketer, budtender, and obnoxiously enthusiastic weed nerd. Someone else succeeding does not automatically mean you are failing. Their win isn't your loss.

Then there’s the gossip.

Women in particular can get caught in this bullshit. Instead of supporting another woman who is building something, we sometimes turn her success into a competition. She got the feature. She got the promotion. She got the account. She got the sponsorship. She got invited to the event. She has more followers. She looks better in the campaign. She knows the right people.

And instead of saying, “Fuck yeah, good for her,” somebody whispers, “Well, I heard…”

Stop.

Put the bong down.

We don't need to turn every successful woman into a villain because she got somewhere before we did. There is enough room at the table for all of us, and if there isn't, maybe we should be building a bigger fucking table instead of trying to pull chairs away from each other.

Then there’s the gatekeeping. Cannabis has an absurd amount of it. Who is a “real” cannabis person? Who has been in the industry long enough? Who is allowed to talk about cannabis? Who is actually contributing? Who is just an influencer? Who is “corporate cannabis”? Who is “legacy”? Who is “craft”? Who is actually about the plant?

Apparently everyone has a clipboard and a certification in determining who belongs.

The truth is, there is no single correct way to participate in cannabis. A grower doesn't have to respect a retailer less because they don't grow. A budtender doesn't need to know every obscure cultivar ever created to be good at their job. A content creator isn't automatically shallow. A corporate employee isn't automatically soulless. A small craft producer isn't automatically morally superior. And someone who simply loves weed doesn't need to submit a résumé proving it.

Competition itself isn't the problem. Of course you want your product to sell. Of course you want your company to grow. Of course you want the contract, the feature, the sponsorship, the account, the promotion, the recognition, or the opportunity. Wanting to win isn't inherently bad.

Trying to sabotage somebody else because you're afraid they might win too? That's different.

And the funny thing is, cannabis can feel like a massive industry until you go to three industry events in a row and realize you've somehow seen the same 47 people at all of them. Everyone knows everyone. Everyone has worked with everyone. Everyone has an ex-boss, former coworker, old business partner, mutual friend, or “Oh God, don't mention them” story.

Your reputation matters.

That doesn't mean you need to be fake-nice to everyone. Sometimes people suck. Sometimes companies behave badly. Sometimes relationships end for very legitimate reasons. Sometimes you absolutely should speak up about something that happened. There is a difference between holding someone accountable and turning every disagreement into an industry-wide smear campaign.

Because eventually, the gossip comes back around, It always does.

Maybe we could try something radical and actually help each other. What if when someone launched something cool, we shared it? What if we recommended people for opportunities they were better suited for than us? What if we introduced people? What if we answered questions without acting like we were protecting nuclear launch codes? What if we congratulated someone without immediately adding, “Yeah, but…”

Imagine that.

Absolutely fucking revolutionary.

And here's the weird part: helping someone else can actually help you too. A stronger industry means more educated consumers. More good products can mean more consumer confidence. More successful retailers create more opportunities. More creators mean more people talking about cannabis. More collaboration means more ideas, connections, and opportunities.

It doesn't always have to be a zero-sum game.

The cannabis industry has spent decades fighting stigma from the outside. Maybe it's time we stop creating unnecessary bullshit on the inside. We're already dealing with regulations, taxes, licensing, competition, changing consumer habits, market pressures, corporate consolidation, and enough paperwork to kill a perfectly good buzz.

We don't need to make each other's lives harder for sport.

You don't have to love everyone. You don't have to work with everyone. You don't have to agree with everyone. You don't even have to pretend someone is your best friend when you wouldn't trust them with your lighter.

But you can be professional. You can be honest. You can give credit where credit is due. You can stop spreading rumours you wouldn't say to someone's face. You can celebrate someone else's win without treating it like a personal attack.

And you can remember why a lot of us got into this industry in the first place.

The plant. The culture. The people. The creativity. The community. The fucking fun of it.

So maybe next time you hear some juicy industry gossip, take a hit, take a breath, and ask yourself: Does this actually need to be repeated?

If the answer is no, keep your mouth shut.

And let somebody else have their moment.

Because there are enough assholes in cannabis already.

We don't need to manufacture more.