I have always been an athlete and well, it’s hard to play a sport when you’re high; at least for me. I was a competitive gymnast for eight years and played tennis in high school and college. There was no way in the world I hit a tennis ball or stick the landing of a back hand spring if I was high. Just thinking about me trying to run is comical. Bottom line, I never did partake while others indulged but those “others” were guys. I didn’t know many females that smoked; okay, I didn’t know any. The women I knew who smoked were my aunt’s friends and they’d all grown up during the “Free Love” era. Fast forward twenty years and women are breaking the typical “stoner dude” stereotype. The future of cannabis is female.
Females make up 59% of new cannabis users and many women are starting to notice how this industry is built for men. Less than 5% of the cannabis products target women but that is starting to change rapidly. Most women consumers said they use cannabis to self medicate for diagnosed conditions like anxiety, PTSD and even anorexia. Some women feel dismissed by their health care providers. There is a lack of information, support and guidance for women in the cannabis industry and it’s looking like that is also rapidly changing.
Popular culture has depicted the regular cannabis user as a “pothead,” think of them as lazy or hanging with their buddies all day (think that 70’s show). This stereotype has often been associated with male groups but it’s shifting. In fact a recent poll found 61% of Americans feel cannabis should be legalized as well as 56% find smoking weed to be “socially acceptable,” but I bet you can’t go to your local Wal Mart and find a shirt that says “420 Moms,” or how bout a “it’s 4:20 somewhere,” stickers. It is more “socially acceptable” to drink wine in the middle of the afternoon or bring/drink alcoholic beverages to little Brandon’s soccer game than it is to use a Delta 8 THC vape.
There are many uses for cannabis that don’t involve getting high – take lotions, creams, soaps, things of that nature. Women report using cannabis for menopause and menstruation cramps, but also to relax and enhance sex. During a recent report, 49% of women use cannabis as a medicine but 54% are moms and have children under the age of 18 in the home. Now there are more shops, podcasts and publications that stand with women; there are companies in particular that send newsletters to parents who indulge in cannabis as well as articles that provide a safe space.
Women have 80% of the spending power; In the not so distant future, women are going to become the dominant purchasers of cannabis. The future of cannabis is female.
