CannaMom: A mother who regularly consumes cannabis. This term reflects a growing community of mothers who incorporate cannabis into their parenting and wellness routines, often to enhance patience, creativity, and stress relief while caring for their children. Cannamoms challenge outdated stereotypes by advocating for the responsible use of cannabis in everyday life.

Alternative forms: canna-mom, canna mom

Etymology: From canna (“a clipping of cannabis”) + mom.

Noun: cannamom (plural cannamoms)

I still remember the first time I posted that flatlay in 2020—the one with the tank top that read, “Moms who smoke weed are not bad moms.” I hit publish and felt my stomach drop. It was true, but I also knew how the internet could be. I’d spent years watching moms proudly sip wine at soccer practice, yet somehow admitting I preferred a joint felt like confessing a crime.

I was tired. Tired of pretending. Tired of hiding. Tired of acting like choosing cannabis made me irresponsible when, in reality, it was the primary thing helping me be grounded.

For me, it was nervous system regulation. It was the difference between spiraling and staying present. It was what allowed me to show up for my kids when postpartum depression had me barely holding it together. Cannabis helped me be a functional, loving, patient mom. I couldn’t be the only one.

I wasn’t.

Slowly, comments and DMs started rolling in. Moms I knew in real life. Moms I’d only met online. Moms who had never said the words out loud but whispered them to me privately: “Thank you. I smoke too.”

I spoke with the ultimate cannamom “OG” Peachie Wimbush-Polk—mom to world-renowned partaker Wiz Khalifa—about her own experiences as a mom who consumed before legalization. Peachie is no stranger to receiving negative feedback, not only from other mothers. Her parenting rights were threatened by her children’s father when the kids were young.

As Peachie would tell it, “(Wizʼs) Aunt, Punkin’, would come over and we would go into my bedroom. (The kids) would smell the aroma and we would come out singing and happy. Thereʼd be music playing, food cooking, and laughter. It was always a good time.” “My girlfriends from middle school—weʼre still together, still smoking.”

LABELS

When people hear cannamom, itʼs not difficult to imagine her hotboxing the minivan on the way to preschool. But the term actually has roots in advocacy. Cannamom first appeared around 2014 when mothers across the country began advocating for the health benefits cannabis had on children suffering from debilitating illnesses. Moms like Paige Figi, mother to Charlotte Figi, who suffered from Dravet Syndrome and began utilizing CBD oil to dramatically reduce seizures after every traditional medical option had been exhausted.

Before CBD, Charlotte would suffer up to 50 seizures a day, a singular seizure sometimes lasting up to four hours. With cannabis, she could go months between seizures and resumed her ability to walk and talk. Charlotte and her mother Paige were instrumental in changing the laws and promoting destigmatization. Her CBD strain is now known as Charlotteʼs Web in honor of the hope she brings to parents of children with similar disorders.

Paige shied away from most media out of fear of being exploited for a more provocative angle, even though, as a Colorado resident, she was well within state law. Both law enforcement and child protective services were watching. But word got out and mothers began to reach out to Paige with their own stories and to connect with what became a sort of underground movement.

For moms like Paige Figi, cannabis was a life-saving medicine that gave her daughter a life doctors initially didnʼt believe she would have. Even after Charlotte’s death, Paige continues to be a voice in the movement, with the Coalition for Access Now. Yet, still, even after appearing in the 2013 docuseries Weed, the benefits of medicinal marijuana and Charlotteʼs story are often couched as an extreme example—a “special case” scenario.

It was, nonetheless, a small win for those of us still hiding.

THE WINE MOM VS. THE WEED MOM

Let’s be honest: the wine mom era had us in a chokehold for years. “Mommy needs a margarita.” “Rosé all day.”

“Champagne for breakfast.” We wore the shirts, carried the tumblers, and joked about needing a drink to survive our kids. And it was accepted. Wholeheartedly. Drinking in front of your kids? Totally fine. But a mom with a vape pen? Suddenly she’s unfit. And let’s be clear, neither this author nor Hiii magazine advocate for driving under the influence of cannabis or alcohol.

Peachie acknowledges, “I used to hide my implements of consumption until I got my life together and realized I never hid a pack of Newport 100s or a bottle or a glass of alcohol, ever. Both substances that I don’t want my littles consuming when they come of age. Now I have cute stash jars and accouterments that they know belong to OG for my weed.”

MAINTAINING SUPERMOM STATUS

Even now, with legalization spreading, moms who consume cannabis face judgment that wine moms never have. I’ve seen women threatened with CPS for posting a video of themselves taking a hit in the garage. I’ve seen cannabis weaponized in divorces and custody battles. I’ve seen creators lose their pages, get shadow-banned, or have their content erased because they dared to talk about a plant that’s legal in over half the country.

And because of that, so many moms still whisper instead of speak. For decades, many mothers couldn’t ever fathom sharing their consumption with friends.

One of the great concerns parents face is: will my public consumption have an adverse effect on my kids’ relationships? Being open about your cannabis consumption can also open the door to all types of criticisms and issues from judgemental parents to legal ramifications. What if someone has concerns about their kids’ safety when they’re at your house? Even with all the information available, the ‘Reefer Madness’ odium tends to rear its ugly head and further stigmatize the community. This pushes moms away from even exploring cannabis as an option for their mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

I’ve had countless women message me privately to say they consume but can’t publicly support me because they’re afraid of what the school moms would think. Afraid of being labeled—and, worse, attacked. But here’s the truth: Every cannamom I’ve ever spoken to says the same thing: cannabis helps them be better moms. More patient, present, and regulated. More themselves. The greatest difference is that the world has a lot of opinions about what moms are, and are not, allowed to do.

THE COMMUNITY THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

One of the most powerful outcomes of the cannamom movement has been the creation of community. Online spaces blossomed into lifelines: Zoom seshes, book clubs, Instagram Lives, and meetups where moms could show up as their whole selves.

A handful of cannamoms have built digital and physical sanctuaries where mothers can learn, laugh, and connect without fear. I host Canna Kick It, a monthly Instagram Live dedicated to education, stigma-busting, and product exploration. A time to gather, get answers, share experiences, and belong.

Moms who understand the joy of a sister sesh. Moms who know how much easier laundry is after an edible. Moms who can laugh about the chaos of parenting while passing a joint back and forth. Motherhood can be lonely. Cannabis makes it less so.

CANNABIS AS A TOOL FOR GENERATIONAL HEALING

One profound shift happening within the cannamom movement is the way mothers are using cannabis knowledge to support their children.

Discovering topicals has transformed many daughters’ experiences with debilitating menstrual cramps—a moment that allows for a deeper parental bond and has opened the door to honest conversations about bodily autonomy, and advocacy for wellness.

This is what the movement is truly about: healing, connection, and empowerment.

WHERE WE GO FROM HERE

Today’s cannamom is educated, intentional, and enlightened. She reads terpene profiles, consults budtenders, and microdoses to stay balanced—not blitzed.

She might be PTA president. She might run a six-figure business. She might be navigating perimenopause, managing chronic pain, or healing from postpartum depression. She might be all of the above. Cannabis is about tuning in, being more present and peaceful than stressed and struggling.

The cannamom movement is a cultural shift. And like all shifts, it requires persistence, education, conversation, and courage. Cannabis is one of the most important tools for the mind. The more women who speak up, the more the narrative changes.

A freelance writer and Creative Director for Jus' Peachie Retreats, Amber is also a Budist writer, cannabis judge, canna-advocate, and proud cannamom. She also enjoys exploring new products and forms of consumption and sharing insights with fellow cannamoms and the cannacurious as the host of Canna Kick It on Instagram Live.

Why Mommy Gets High: A Conversation Starter for Parents That Smoke Pot by Wendy Brazil

Full of compassion, mindfulness, and genuine emotion, Why Mommy Gets High is a book for all the moms out there who partake. Brazil is a good guide: she talks to both the children of partakers and the partakers themselves in a responsible and sensible style.

Weed Mom: The Canna-Curious Womanʼs Guide to Healthier Relaxation, Happier Parenting, and Chilling TF Out by Danielle Simon Brand

Winner of “Best Cannabis Book” at the 2021 Women in Cannabis Expo, Weed Mom is at once deeply personal and totally relatable. It is also a guide, of sorts. Brand, a cannamom of two, interviews doctors, experts, and activists about their journeys as cannamoms and gets their advice. She also has a podcast called the Calling All Canna Moms Show.

She’s Taking a Break: A Cannabis Romance by Joyce Gerber

For many years, Gerber hosted The Canna Mom Show, dedicated to changing the narrative around cannabis. But she can also write—what’s been dubbed “cannabis-friendly fiction.” A story about a joyfully partaking cannamom who ditches toxic Hollywood to return to her childhood home in Cambridge, She’s Taking a Break is a flirty romance that begs the question: What happens when two sisters, a priest, and a rock star share a joint? Holy moly!

Blunt Blowin Mama Blog by Shonitria

As a mom who smoked a lot of weed, Shonitria wanted to connect with other cannamoms like her to commiserate. She spent months looking for women who looked like her (“young and brown”) who were out of the green closet—and she couldn’t find any. So she said, F-it— I will do it myself and, voila, a cannamom community blog was born. Oh, she also has a groovy podcast. BluntBlowinMama.com

My Bud Vase Blog

Written by Doreen Sullivan—master bong- maker and cannabis activist—the blog focuses on all things cannamoms— and the kids that want to support them. MyBudVase.com