Are weed moms the new wine moms?
Though "wine mom" culture has long been the source of many a mommy meme and largely socially acceptable, marijuana-using moms are stepping out of the shadows and proudly extolling the virtues of cannabis.
In a recent essay for Parents.com, writer Leah Campbell claimed micro-dosing marijuana makes her a better mom.
"A small amount of pot administered as an edible allows me to be present and functional for my daughter," the article reads. "It makes me the best version of myself and I have no shame at all in admitting that it makes me a better parent."
Julia Dennison, executive editor of Parents.com told "Good Morning America" that more moms are opening up about their marijuana use than ever before.
"We see mom influencers on Instagram posting about it," she said. "In line with the legalization of marijuana has come a lessening of the stigma surrounding it."
Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez, a primary care pediatrician and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University, agreed. "As more states have moved to legalize cannabis for both medicinal and recreational use in recent years, there certainly has been a rise in the amount of parents who are using them to cope with the stress of parenting and daily life," she told "GMA." "I'm hearing from more and more adults who use these products to 'take the edge off,' relax or ease pain."
In her piece, Campbell writes she started micro-dosing to avoid period pain. She soon discovered it also eased her anxiety.
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"When I started to feel that increase in my heart rate, I found that just one 2.5mg dose of THC was typically enough to stabilize my breathing and bring me back to a steady state. Quick, easy, and effective," she wrote. Campbell wrote she does this 5 - 10 days each month and "every once in a while, I take higher doses recreationally."
Campbell is far from an outlier. In a 2016 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the organization found the highest usage of marijuana was among 26-34 years olds.
Despite this, Dennison said there is still some taboo tied to marijuana use among moms.
"They get flack in mom groups in a way they don't when the topic is wine," she said.
Marijuana is fully legal in at least 11 states, including Alaska where Campbell lives.
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Moms who may not have a marijuana community around them can find support online.
On Facebook, The Cannavist Mom, a group for "cannabis choosing moms" has almost 35,0000 members. It's tagline: "Mommy needs a joint should be just as socially acceptable as Mommy needs a glass of wine!" There's also Moms for Marijuana International with half a million followers.
And while "wine mom" may be tempted to turn "weed mom" if only to save herself the hangover, Bracho-Sanchez warns to proceed carefully.
"Just because these products are now legal, it does not mean that they're always safe," she said. "We have no standards or process for ensuring their quality, we don't know the appropriate dosing for different conditions and we ultimately can't guarantee their safety."
"I do believe the use of these products is a valid strategy to cope with certain medical conditions and I encourage people to partner with their physicians to decide whether they can be safely introduced into the treatment plan," she said.
