Page 18 - IAV Digital Magazine #445

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Marijuana For Moms
Many a meme has been made about “wine moms”—mothers who joke online about their love for a relaxing glass of cabernet, or three. But a new drug is gaining popularity with the playgroup cir- cuit. As it becomes more socially accept- able, more moms are using marijuana and its various incarnations to deal with everything from the daily aches and stresses of moth- erhood, to postpartum depression and anxiety, to menstrual cramps. And forget the simple bongs and pipes of the past; as the industry expands, it’s creating a whole new world of sprays, drinks, drops, and oils. The needs of this market of marijua-
na-friendly mothers have inspired a new crop of cannabis prod- ucts.
In her recent High Times article, Jessica Delfino discusses the changing social atti- tudes toward mother- hood and marijuana: “Mothers and women who use medical mari- juana...are often put into a position in which they feel they have to explain themselves and what their condition is, and then steel them- selves for the judgment that will inevitably fol- low,” she writes.
But also, Delfino tells me: “I think cannabis
use in moms is becoming more wide- spread because it’s becoming more legal, and so people feel more will- ing and able to discuss it.”
Adam Grossman, the CEO of the cannabis com- pany Papa and Barkley, has also noticed a burgeoning interest in mar- ijuana from moms. “In the last month
alone, we have seen the emergence of cannabis-and-parent- hood workshops, new ‘parenting and cannabis’ publications like Splimm, and Facebook groups," he says. “More and more parents are starting to have the conversation about cannabis and breastfeeding, cannabis and pregnan- cy, and cannabis and parenting.”
But according to those in the pot industry, one new product in particu- lar is spreading fast in mom circles: sublingual spray, a convenient, THC-infused ingestible
liquid.
Once you spritz the liq- uid under your tongue, it activates quickly (within 60 seconds), it’s hard to overdo, and the high doesn't last very long, says Leslie Siu, the CMO and cofounder of cannabis company Mother and Clone. “After a minute you’ll start to feel this uplifting euphoric feel- ing, almost like a gen- tle rush,” Siu says of her sublingual nano- sprays. (Nano-sprays are a form of microdos- ing—Mother and Clone bottles deliver a metered dose of the drug.) By the five- minute mark, she says, you’ll know just how strong the effects will be for the next hour and you can decide to re-up and spray some more—in the industry this is called “stacking.”
Siu was moved to start Mother and Clone after she experienced post- partum depression. “Everything felt dark,” she recalls of that first “ominous” year after having her daughter Veda. Siu started searching for ways to ease the overwhelm- ing, stressful feelings she was having. “Then a few things happened that got me back on
track,” Siu says. "Time, therapy, running, and weed.”
Siu wanted to create a cannabis product that would be easy and safe for mothers in similar situations to use, and she landed on sublingual sprays. Because it’s easier to control the dose with sublingual spray, Siu says that it’s ideal for parents (her products also have child-resist- ant bottles). The sprays can also help with sleep, she says. “A lot of [postpartum depres- sion and postpartum anxiety] sufferers develop terrible insom- nia even if the baby starts to sleep through the night.”
Although they are ingestible, sublingual sprays are a gentler and more predictable experience than edi- bles. Edibles are more potent, and factors such as meal size and metabolism can make dosing with them unpredictable. A public- education campaign in Colorado (where Mother and Clone is based, and marijuana is legal) from the Marijuana Policy Project has a slogan for edibles: Start low and go slow.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine