9 Things Weed-Smoking Moms Need You to Know

While we may come with many different stories and worldviews, there are legions of us moms who legally and proudly consume cannabis in some form. Maybe you’re one of us—or would like to be.

So what do moms who smoke weed need you to know about them? Here’s what nine cannabis-loving moms had to say.

Some of Us Use Cannabis for Pain

Valerie, a mother in Maryland, tells Miss Grass, “I want to provide a safe, happy, and enriching environment (for my family) but because I suffer from a pain condition, happy and enriching are a struggle sometimes.” She treats her health condition using medical cannabis, which she finds gives her more quality, pain-free time with her family. “Other medications,” she says, “made that difficult due to the side effects.”

She’s not alone. 62 percent of legal, medical marijuana users have pain that cannabis helps address. All this comes without the risk of overdose by pharmaceutical-grade pain meds.

“I simply want to do the best for my family—any mom would,” says Valerie. “And using medical cannabis is part of that.”

It Helps With Headaches and Menstrual Cramps, Too

NSAIDs like aspirin and ibuprofen can sometimes be a lifesaver, true, but they’re also associated with such un-fun issues as GI problems, ulcers, renal failure, and heart failure. If you could relieve cramps, headaches, and maybe even migraines with natural plant medicine, wouldn’t you?

We All Let Go in Our Own Ways

It’s wholly acceptable for a parent to have a beer while at a family barbecue, or for moms to wax poetic about wine o’ clock. “Some people like alcohol a lot,” says Nicole, a mother of two in Southern California, “and some people don’t. I happen to be one of those parents who relaxes and unwinds with weed.”

Nicole feels disappointed when she sees parents at social functions who drink heavily or talk about drinking heavily while knowing that she’d be stigmatized if she brought her vape pen or joint along. “I don’t want to get messed up,” she says. “I just want to take a break.”

Cannabis Also Helps Moms with Anxiety, Depression, and ADHD

Arlene Guzman, a mother of two young children in LA, has found a strain that helps her stay focused and on-task in her work in public relations for cannabis businesses. And many people are finding that anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues can be helped with the right strain, dosage, and delivery.

Guzman wants to remind everyone that cannabis medicine is individualized. “While a particular strain might help your bestie with her anxiety, it might wreak havoc on your system and give you the opposite of your desired effects. Trial and error to determine what strains work best for you is part of the fun in becoming a cannabis consumer."

We Don’t Get Hangovers

Speaking of alcohol, we need to address one of the most appealing ways that cannabis stacks up against alcohol: hangovers, or the lack thereof. The severity of a hangover can differ from person to person, of course, but many of us suffer quite a bit the next day even if we haven’t drunk irresponsibly.

Count me as one of them: At a recent Saturday night dinner party, I had a cocktail with appetizers followed by a few glasses of wine over the course of the next several hours while my friend’s chef husband served up course after course of ah-mazing dishes. It was great while it lasted, but I felt like death warmed over the next day. Just ask my husband—he had to do all the parenting that Sunday while I moaned on the couch.

Since that night, alcohol and I are officially on a break. But weed hangovers, on the other hand, are negligible to nil. If you consume large amounts of edibles, you may feel some residual effect the next day. But with light, moderate, and even the occasional not-so-moderate weed intake, you won’t feel bad the next day.

We’re Not High All the Time

If you see me picking up my kids, volunteering at school, or attending your kid’s birthday party, you don’t have to wonder if I’m high at those times. I use cannabis medicinally for headaches (see above), but with the right ratio of the pain-relieving and non-psychoactive CBD and only a little THC, chances are I won’t feel altered at all.

And when I want to get a little high and enjoy the bright bursts of springtime color while strolling through the urban canyons with my family, I light up on the weekends.

It’s Good for Sex

If you have kids, you probably know that finding your pre-mom sex groove—especially if your littles have been using your body as a jungle gym all day, or you are juggling the stresses of a full-time job and a family—can sometimes be a challenge.

Cannabis relaxes the body, stimulates the senses, and helps get your creative juices, and other juices, flowing—making many women say yes please to cannabis and sex. These days, you can find a number of products at your local dispensary that help enhance the sexual experience. From specifically formulated edibles, to certain strains of vape or flower, to cannabis lubes and suppositories, there are many ways for cannabis to help get you where you want to be.

We Talk to Our Kids About Cannabis and Help Them Make Safe Decisions

In my city of San Diego, legal weed is now everywhere. From highway billboards to local dispensaries, it’s front and center—and so, just like all kinds of things they should know about, I talk to my kids about cannabis. Katrina, a mom in Spokane, Washington wanted others to know, “Our house isn’t a drug free-for all. We treat it like the medicine it is. We educate. We break down stigma. We don’t just let our kids light up because we do. My kid can tell you all about the harm marijuana can do to the adolescent brain.”

We’ll Keep Your Kids Safe, Too

I may, rarely, lapse for a moment in my awareness of where my own children are if I’m—say—chatting with another parent on the playground. But if I’m watching someone else’s kid? No way. Likewise, other parents needn’t worry that I’m high while in charge of their children, either in public or at my home. And I keep my weed, including all of my edibles, safely locked up in a stash box that would require a sledgehammer or a wrecking ball to get into.

So, if you’re wondering whether it’s possible to be the loving, fun, and all-around excellent mom you are and use cannabis, I’m waving my arms and shouting, yes! It is possible, and it’s also pretty awesome.

And if you’re wondering if you’ll be treated differently by the people around you? Hey, don’t tell them. It’s your business, after all. They can mind theirs.