Leah Welborn
New data has recently been published that sheds new light on who’s using cannabis, and under what circumstances. While we’ve previously reported that cannabis users are typically well-educated and socially and physically active, these new stats dig a little deeper into demographics and reveal some surprising trends.
The consumer advocacy organization Cannabis Consumers Coalition (CCC) recently surveyed 537 cannabis consumers to learn more about their habits.
“The most profound finding in our report,” the CCC’s executive summary states, “was that that majority of respondents were women by over a 15% margin…It is well known that women make the majority of purchasing and family healthcare decisions also that women have a strong leadership presence in the new cannabis industry…the fact that there are more women cannabis consumers than previously thought shows that women are a force to be reckoned with in the new industry on a multitude of levels.”
The CCC report found that women account for 47% of regular cannabis users, and a 2013 Gallup poll found that 8% of men and 6% of women use cannabis daily. These statistics might surprise those who’ve always considered cannabis to be “a guy thing,” but they point to a basic truth – women love weed, too.
And women aren’t just partaking, they’re industry leaders as well. In 2015, Marijuana Business Daily reported that 36% of executive positions in the cannabis industry are held by women. Compare that statistic to just 22% of senior managers in other industries and you’ll understand why Newsweek proclaimed that “legal marijuana could be the first billion-dollar industry not dominated by men.”