Why aren’t more women using cannabis for pain relief?

In 2020, Gen Z women bought 151% more cannabis than they did in 2019. Across the country, women are taking control over their health and wellness journey with purposeful cannabis consumption. But according to Jointly’s data, there are some surprising differences in how males and females use cannabis. Is the cannabis industry doing enough to educate female consumers on the wellness benefits of purposeful cannabis consumption?

Women and Weed

According to Brightfield Group, a market research group focused on cannabis and CBD, women make up 59% of new cannabis users. However, many people have noted that the cannabis industry is built for men. According to Kimberly Cargile, the owner of six dispensaries in the Sacremento area, less than 5% of cannabis products target women through marketing or education. There is a need for female-focused cannabis products; we expect cannabis brands will begin to fill this gap in the coming years. For many women, cannabis is an everyday wellness tool. But others are afraid to try it, or don’t know where to start. These people could improve their health and wellbeing by discovering the perfect product to help them get a full night of sleep, enhance an intimate moment, or soothe mild aches and pains. But they haven’t been educated about the wellness benefits of cannabis. What can we do to help more women discover purposeful cannabis consumption?

How Women Use Cannabis on Jointly: Gender Insights

Of the over 150,000 people who have recorded their cannabis experiences on the Jointly app and identified as male or female, 51% are female. According to our data, men are 46% more likely to use cannabis for physical recovery than women, and 32% more likely to use cannabis for managing pain than women. However, women experience chronic pain more frequently than men on average. While men are more likely to use cannabis for these wellness goals, women experience greater success than men when using cannabis for these goals. Not by a lot – but by 6% for recovery and 9% for managing pain. What can the cannabis industry do to raise awareness among women about the benefits of cannabis for physical recovery and pain management? Is it about awareness? Or consumer education? Women are far more likely than men to report side effects like disorientation (27% more) and dizziness (49% more) and slow reaction time (61% more) than men. Why is that? Are they just more honest with themselves about how they’re feeling? Our data show that the incidence of those side effects is highly correlated with dose and ingestion method. Women using a tincture for physical recovery or managing pain rate the effectiveness of their experience about 25% higher than by other product types or ingestion methods. Does the industry need to do more to educate women around product selection, dose, and other techniques? The good news is that Jointly can help any consumer (including women) navigate the modern cannabis market to find the right products and enjoy a better experience by tracking and optimizing the 15 factors that can impact their cannabis experience. For example, when women first use Jointly to help with physical recovery or managing pain, they rate products at an average of 6.3 out of 10. By the time they’ve tracked 10 experiences and have learned to dial in those 15 factors, they rate their experience at an average of 7.3 out of 10. For our super-users who have tracked 30 or more sessions on Jointly, the average rating for their experience is 8.5 out of 10.

Use the Jointly App to Get More Out of Cannabis

Have you started your cannabis wellness journey? Jointly is a new cannabis wellness app that helps you discover purposeful cannabis consumption so you can achieve your wellness goals with cannabis and CBD. On the Jointly app, you can find new cannabis products, rate products based on how well they helped you achieve your goals, and track and optimize 15 factors that can impact your cannabis experience. These 15 factors include your dose, the environment in which you consume cannabis, who you are with when you ingest, how hydrated you are, the quality of your diet, how much sleep you got last night, and more. Download the Jointly app on the App Store or the Google Play Store to get started on your cannabis wellness journey.