A new American beauty pageant called "Miss Marijuana" has been accused of sexism and transphobia because it stipulates contestants must be a “single (unmarried), natural born woman”.

Miss Marijuana bills itself as a national pageant competition which is based on beauty, personality and intelligence that honours “fun-loving young women”.

“Miss Marijuana is the preverbial [sic] ‘girl-next-door’ with a great attitude, is friendly, honest, approachable and confident,” reads a blurb on the pageant’s website.

“She’s the girl that makes all her boyfriend’s buddies jealous. Contestants compete state by state followed by a national contest, with the winner being crowned Miss Marijuana. Attractive, fun loving, sexy, playful, daring!”

But the beauty contest specifically states contestants must be between the ages of 18 and 30 and single – adding that the applicant “must be a Miss or Ms”.

In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Show all 26 1 /26 In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A man wears a marijuana leaf mask during the annual 4/20 cannabis culture celebration at Sunset Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia AP In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A lady smokes marijuana on Parliament Hill on 4/20 in Ottawa, Ontario Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies James Reed smokes a joint during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies People sign a 4/20 sign on Parliament Hill on in Ottawa, Ontario Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A woman smokes marijuana on Parliament Hill on 4/20 in Ottawa, Ontario. Polling released showed strong support in Canada for a government drive to legalise recreational use of marijuana, but many would like the proposed minimum age for consumption to be raised. Sixty-three percent of respondents told the Angus Reid Institute they support legalisation Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A man smokes marijuana during the annual 4/20 marijuana rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Reuters In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Demonstrators smoke marijuana during the '4/20 Santiago' rally in favour of legalisation in front of the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, as part of the Global Marijuana March which is being held in hundreds of cities worldwide Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies People play with a mock marijuana joint during a 4/20 party to demand legalisation and to celebrate marijuana culture outside the Senate building in Mexico City, Mexico Reuters In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Adam Eidinger, co-founder of DCMJ, hands out free marijuana joints to DC residents who worked on Capitol Hill as part of the 1st Annual Joint Session to mark '4/20' day and promote legalising marijuana on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Police arrest Rachel Ramone Donlan after she handed out free marijuana joints to DC residents who worked on Capitol Hill as part of the 1st Annual Joint Session to mark '4/20' day and promote legalising marijuana on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC AFP/Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Police arrest Rachel Ramone Donlan after she handed out free marijuana joints to DC residents who worked on Capitol Hill as part of the 1st Annual Joint Session to mark '4/20' day and promote legalising marijuana on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Thousands of people gather to smoke marijuana during the '420 Santiago'rally in front of the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies People attend the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Kevin Barron and Lasean Moore of Raleigh, North Carolina, share a joint during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Nic Ruhl takes a pull on a giant hand rolled joint at precisely 4:20pm MDT during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Various cannabis paraphernalia on display at a vendor's stall during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Mo Banez, of Austin, Texas, lights a joint during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A man displays a large container of cannabis during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado. The rally, held annually, is a celebration of both the legalisation of cannabis and cannabis culture. Colorado is one of twenty-six U.S. states along with the District of Columbia that has legalised the use of cannabis either recreationally or medically AFP/Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Sitting in small groups on mats shaded by trees in the Rose Garden just across from the Knesset, participants lit up as the clock struck 4:20 for the local version of the traditional worldwide April 20 pro-marijuana events, known as '420' rallies Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies An Israeli smokes a marijuana joint in Jerusalem during a rally at the Rose garden Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Sitting in small groups on mats shaded by trees in the Rose Garden just across from the Knesset, participants lit up as the clock struck 4:20 for the local version of the traditional worldwide April 20 pro-marijuana events, known as '420' rallies Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies An Israeli girl poses with a mock marijuana joint in Jerusalem during a rally at the Rose garden, to celebrate 420 and to express their defiance of current laws Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies aelis pass around a marijuana joint in Jerusalem during a rally at the Rose garden, to celebrate 420 and to express their defiance of current laws Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies An Israeli smokes a marijuana joint in Jerusalem during a rally at the Rose garden, to celebrate 420 and to express their defiance of current law Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies An Israeli smokes a marijuana joint in Jerusalem on April 20, 2017 during a rally opposite the Knesset to celebrate 420 and express defiance of current laws AFP/Getty Images

“Miss Marijuana’s the type of girl all the guys want, and all the girls want to be friends with,” the pageant says.

Contestants, who must reside in the US or Canada, will be judged via an online voting system at a regional state level, according to the pageant’s site.

Winners of the state level online competitions will then attend the national Miss Marijuana competition which is being held in Las Vegas this spring.

“Contestants are ‘NOT’ required to use cannabis but should be in favour of legalisation,” the pageant adds.

It announced five thousand contestants had signed up for the competition in a Facebook post at the beginning of March.

But the competition has been fiercely criticised for its entry criteria on social media – with critics branding it “downright sexist” and saying it has “outdated guidelines”.

“I was going to say that it was about as gross as having a wine beauty pageant,” Lisa Campbell, CEO of Toronto-based Lifford Cannabis Solutions, tweeted. “Then I looked on twitter and learned this was actually a thing in BC. Industry awards for all genders should be based on talent, not beauty IMO. Reducing women to objects.”

“No proof of legitimacy and they’re transphobic. Smells like a big ol’ scam to me,” said a Facebook user who posted a negative review on Miss Marijuana’s Facebook page.

“So you have to be single to even enter? That’s beyond stupid,” added another user.

But Miss Marijuana's president Howard R Baer, told The Independent he was "not prejudiced or anti-anyone for their beliefs".

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He said he was "from the old school" but insisted he thought "progressively" and was open to "almost anything", especially when compared to other more traditional beauty pageants.

Contestants had to be "100 per cent naturally born, that’s the way they are", he added.

He said: "We don’t have any of those rules except the naturally born. You have to be single, because it’s miss marijuana. If you have kids, fine. If you were once married, fine. If you had an abortion, fine."

The pageant says its winner will receive a new car and will also get a “$25,000 cash prize & Miss Marijuana crown title”.

Its site features an image of a jeep which is emblazoned with the words “Miss Marijuana” and adorned with a silhouette of a beauty queen holding a cartoon cannabis leaf in her hand. However, it includes the caption “vehicle shown for example only”.