How to Come Out of the Cannabis Closet as a Responsible Parent

Are you a cannacurious parent? Meet Danielle Simone Brand, author of ‘Weed Mom.’

“I don’t want to shock you, but more than half of the 55 percent of American adults who use some form of cannabis are parents. Of that half, 16 million have children under the age of 18.”

Danielle Simone Brand reported that surprising stat in a story called “I smoke weed. I’m still a responsible parent” for in 2018. Fast-forward to now — during the hopeful home stretch of the pandemic — and the 42-year-old author of the book thinks cannabis usage among parents has “definitely increased.”

We’re not surprised. Brand attributes the increase in cannabis partially to improved legal access to weed, and some of it to the incredible stress of parenting through a pandemic. Adds the the Northwest-based writer and mom of two — ages 8 and 11 — “While I haven’t seen a new comprehensive poll on parental usage rates, a Harris Poll from December 2020 found that 52% of parents who had previously used cannabis either re-started or upped their usage since the beginning of the pandemic. And interestingly — but not surprisingly — 57% of parents who use cannabis said that they replaced or reduced alcohol with cannabis.”