Black women are attempting to normalize the use of cannabis for self-care following Sha’Carri Richardson’s Olympic ban.

Black women are attempting to normalize the use of cannabis for self-care following Sha’Carri Richardson’s Olympic ban. According to cannabis market research firm Brightfield Group, 59% of new cannabis users in 2020 were women, and YPulse’s health, drugs, and risky behavior report found that 40% of 20-38-year-old females have experimented with marijuana. However, there’s still racial disparities when it comes to marijuana consumption: The ACLU reports that Black people are about 3.6 times more likely than White people to be arrested for marijuana possession despite similar usage rates. We recently told you about young consumers’ feelings toward the Tokyo Olympics banning Sha’Carri Richardson for using marijuana, but the decision in particular “struck a chord” with Black women around the country who incorporate cannabis in their self-care routines. Cannaclusive promotes inclusive representations of cannabis consumers, and co-founder Mary Pryor uses weed to manage her Crohn’s disease, while Ebony Andersen and Whitney Beatty, who turned to weed to alleviate pandemic-related stress, founded dispensary Josephine & Billie’s to educate women of color, mothers, and older people on how to make cannabis work for them. (NBC)