For Charlea Estes-Jones, cannabis is more than just a day job. In fact, she credits the plant with saving her life.
Charlea came into the cannabis space as a journalist, covering Missouri’s fascinating cannabis landscape as it rapidly evolved. While reporting on the state’s medical marijuana vote, Charlea got to know a local physician who was equally passionate about legalizing medical use in the state. When the vote passed by a landslide (65.5%) in November 2018, the two of them quickly got to work, obtaining a license in the highly competitive state lottery and building Cassville Dispensary from the ground up, one of the state’s first medical dispensaries.
However, Charlea’s personal relationship with cannabis started much earlier. When she was a teenager, her dad was diagnosed with colon cancer and given six months to live, but with the help of some friends who kept him well-supplied with marijuana, he lived for another three and a half years. “Even his oncologist back then acknowledged that the reason why my dad lived as long as he did was because of how much marijuana he consumed,” she says.
Then, Charlea started to get sick. For years, doctors dismissed her and her symptoms. “I got diagnosed very frequently as just being an anxious and depressed woman,” she says. When she began to lose weight rapidly, lost her ability to swallow, and was passing out multiple times a day, a doctor finally took her seriously and ordered a brain scan. Nine years after the onset of her symptoms, Charlea was diagnosed with a Chiari Type 1 malformation, a condition in which a smaller-than-usual skull compresses the brain stem, forcing it into the spinal canal and causing all sorts of issues. (Unfortunately, Charlea’s story is not unique—a 2019 study found that it took women an average of four years longer than their male counterparts to receive the same diagnoses.)
To further complicate Charlea’s situation, her specific genetic and neurological disorders prevent her from metabolizing medication appropriately, meaning many traditional pharmaceutical drugs are not viable for her. Marijuana was the only thing that could control her pain and help her sleep when her symptoms intensified, and she continued to struggle to get an accurate diagnosis. Ultimately, Charlea had brain surgery in 2022—on the same day that Missouri voted to legalize recreational cannabis use (Charlea voted early absentee, of course).
Even her neurosurgeon, a highly regarded professional in a major medical system, acknowledged that Charlea wouldn’t have been functional if not for her marijuana use. “Yes, this is a job for me, but it’s also a huge mission for me too,” Charlea says. “I am still in the marijuana space because it saved my life, and it gave me a lot of extra time with my dad… We went through an insane amount of tragedy, and the cannabis community took care of us.”
After two back-to-back surgeries and a successful recovery, Charlea’s time in the hospital still wasn’t over, however. In 2024, she noticed her husband’s kind and loving personality start to shift. Informed by her own challenges and diagnostic hurdles, she knew something was wrong and urged him to seek treatment. In July 2024, he was diagnosed with brain cancer and had to undergo major surgery immediately.
“The cannabis industry really came together when they found out what was going on with us,” she says. As he recovered from his own brain surgery, Charlea’s husband relied heavily on full extract cannabis oil (FECO). Dispensaries throughout the state made sure he always had the FECO he needed free of charge, and one company even offered a “cannabis compassion grant” to help offset the medical expenses. Even as Cassville’s Dispensary’s ownership has changed, they’ve remained incredibly supportive too.
Of course, Charlea has encountered challenges in the cannabis industry, but she’s experienced significantly less sexism here than she did as an editor. Like many other women, she came to cannabis for medical reasons, and that lens continues to inform her work daily. “Women are looked at differently in the cannabis space because we take care of people,” she says. “We’re not just thinking about ourselves; we’re thinking about everyone around us.” For Charlea, that altruistic orientation is a huge asset in her work.
She’s also found a lot of acceptance among other professionals. “People are really good at what they do,” she says of her comrades in cannabis. “They’re also really smart and really weird. You can find a place you fit in if you really look.” For women looking to get into the cannabis industry and make a career there, Charlea recommends finding a good mentor and someone to talk to.
Charlea was the original store manager at Cassville Dispensary, and after eight years, multiple brain surgeries, and lots of change, she’s still there. One of the biggest shifts came when Missouri legalized recreational use in November 2022. With just 87 days between the legislation passing and the first recreational sales, the state had the fastest rec rollout in U.S. history, largely because of dual-use conversion of established medical dispensaries, like Cassville Dispensary.
To stay true to their medical roots, Cassville hired an extra nurse to work onsite three days a week and offer more thorough expertise to medical patients, allowing budtenders to serve a wider breadth of customers. “There’s lots of opportunity for self-exploration and learning in our shop,” Charlea says, mentioning the book corner, ongoing education resources, and her favorite interview question for new hires: “How do you learn best?”
While the Missouri state average is now 5% medical marijuana customers (compared to 95% recreational), Cassville Dispensary has maintained a higher-than-average medical contingent at 13%. Charlea takes pride in that number but knows the true count is even higher. “At least half of our rec users are medical customers,” she says with a laugh. “They just might not know it yet.”
Do you know a powerhouse woman making waves in the cannabis industry? Whether she’s leading, innovating, advocating, or inspiring, we want to hear her story! Our Women in Cannabis spotlight celebrates the trailblazers, changemakers, and unsung heroes shaping the future of the industry. Nominate someone who deserves the recognition—because their work deserves to be seen! Submit your nomination here.
