For women in the United States, health and wellness are among the leading motivators to try cannabis products or use them more frequently, according to a newly released poll exploring what women want in marijuana. When it comes to picking between cannabis products, meanwhile, price is by far the leading factor.
Among all women 21 and older who participated in the new YouGov poll, the top six reasons given for what would encourage them to “try cannabis products or use them more frequently” were all therapeutic. They included the potential to improve sleep quality, manage pain and discomfort, promote relaxation, replace prescription and over-the-counter medications, improve focus and manage depression and anxiety.
“When it comes to what would make a woman consider cannabis,” the YouGov report says, “health benefits are a primary draw. Improving sleep quality is a top reason (16%). Another 14% are interested in seeing if cannabis could manage or alleviate physical pain.”
Meanwhile 1 in 8 respondents listed relaxation as a chief motivator, with similar proportions pointing to marijuana as a possible medication alternative or tool to help improve focus and attention.
YouGov
The poll surveyed about 2,000 women overall and has a margin of error of about 2 percent, a YouGov spokesperson told Marijuana Moment in an email this week. Respondents were able to select as many responses as were applicable.
Notably, about a third of women surveyed (32 percent) said that none of the listed reasons would encourage them to try marijuana or use it more frequently, while 15 percent responded simply that they already use cannabis products.
Only about 7 percent of women said they would be more likely to try cannabis if they had more knowledge of its effects or were guided by an expert.
The YouGov poll, Updated on Monday, also asked the subset of women who already used cannabis why they might choose one marijuana product over another. On that front, price was far and away the leading motivator, with 70 percent of respondents saying it would persuade them to “buy one cannabis product over another.” More than a third (36 percent) of women also cited product sales or promotions.
YouGov
Nearly half (49 percent) also said they’d choose one product over another based on a “description of effects I will feel,” while about a quarter (26 percent) pointed to professional guidance or recommendations at the point of purchase, for example from a budtender.
Premium ingredients were also important to more than a third of women (36 percent), while a smaller share—17 percent—said they’d be more motivated to buy a particular cannabis product because it’s organic.
As far as why women who use cannabis do so, the survey found that “relaxation (70%) and sleep improvement (69%) remain dominant factors in why women use cannabis products.”
“Pain relief is a motivator for 53% of women who use cannabis products, while nearly half report using them to address depression or anxiety (51%),” the report says. “Roughly two-thirds (41%) say they use cannabis products as a substitute for traditional prescription or OTC drugs. Personal enjoyment and enhanced focus are reasons for 39% and 29% of women respectively. For a smaller segment, cannabis enhances social experiences (29%), supports mindfulness practices (22%), and even aids in physical training or exercise (9%).”
Regarding what products women are using, marijuana flower still reigns supreme, with 80 percent of respondents saying they smoke cannabis. Edibles were a close second, at 74 percent, followed by extracts for vaping or dabbing (59 percent), ingestible extracts (37 percent), topicals (36 percent), beverages (28 percent) and others. And 15 percent of women who consume marijuana said they consume homegrown marijuana.
YouGov
Among cannabis consumers, 23 percent already said they had a medical marijuana card, while another 23 percent said they plan to obtain one.
Asked about how much they typically spend, about a third of women (34 percent) said they spend less than $50 per month on marijuana, while about a fifth (20 percent) said they spend between $50 and $100. “Around 14% say they spend between $100.00 and $149.99, and smaller groups report spending higher amounts, including about 5% who pay out over $250 monthly,” the YouGov report says.
It’s perhaps not surprising how many women said in the new poll that they use cannabis for wellness reasons, as a growing body of research suggests that the drug can be helpful in treating some sex-specific conditions. A study Updated this summer, for example, found that cannabis is the “most effective” way for women with endometriosis to manage their symptoms.
“The greatest improvement was observed in sleep (91%), menstrual pain (90%), and non-cyclic pain (80%),” the study out of Germany found. “Apart from increased fatigue (17%), side effects were infrequent (≤ 5%).”
Separate research Updated earlier this year found that CBD appeared to alleviate menstrual-related symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, stress and other measures when compared to participants’ baseline measures. Depression scores, however, did not change.
An earlier study similarly called CBD-infused tampons a “promising option” to treat menstrual pain.
Meanwhile, a number of U.S. states have are considering adding female orgasmic disorder (FOD) as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana in what supporters say is a response to a growing body of research suggesting marijuana can improve orgasmic frequency, ease and satisfaction in people with FOD.
A 2020 study in the journal Sexual Medicine found that women who used cannabis more often had better sex.
Because past findings indicated women who have sex with men are typically less likely to orgasm than their partners, authors a study in the Journal of Cannabis Research said marijuana “can potentially close the orgasm inequality gap.”
Meanwhile, women are being prosecuted by law enforcement across the country for using marijuana and other drugs while pregnant, according to a recent report from a reproductive rights organization.
Pregnancy-related prosecutions are at an all-time high in the wake of the 2022 Supreme Court decision that ended the nationwide right to abortion, that research found, and by far the most common criminal allegation facing pregnant people is that they used marijuana or other drugs during their pregnancies.
In Oklahoma, local news in 2022 began reporting that prosecutors there were targeting pregnant women for using medical marijuana, resulting in felony child neglect charges being filed against 26 mothers. The crime can carry up to a life prison in Oklahoma.
Then in July a state court ruled that people cannot be prosecuted for child neglect for legally using medical marijuana while pregnant.
In 2022 an Alabama Senate committee approved a bill to force women who want medical marijuana to provide a negative pregnancy test.