Marty Otañez on child labor in the tobacco industry and safety issues in cannabis farming

Published: June 18, 2019

The issue is not child labor per se,’ says Marty Otañez, Assistant Professor of Anthropology. ‘We need to shift the landscape and look at how tobacco companies create the pressure that makes families feel they have no choice but to take their kids out of school and into the field.’ Otañez speaks from first-hand experience: he has studied tobacco industry exploitative practices at the farm-level in Malawi and other tobacco growing developing countries.

Dossier: Tobacco’s big child labour problem
 Geographical

In order to study workers’ exposure to unsafe levels of mold spores, Otañez’s surveyed 19 cannabis employees, conducted six in-depth interviews with workers, and attended over 20 cannabis industry events. The aim of the research was to determine levels of health risks such as respiratory problems and dermatological disorders associated with exposure to molds among cannabis workers.

The Cannabis Industry as an Occupational Hazard
Hemp Connoisseur Magazine, May 16