Is women’s health the key to reviving the cannabis industry?

Many U.S. states have embraced medical cannabis as a treatment for various ailments, yet women’s health issues remain largely overlooked as qualifying conditions by many MMJ programs.

While ailments such as cancer, epilepsy and chronic pain are commonly recognized in state MMJ laws, conditions that disproportionately affect women – such as endometriosis, severe menstrual pain and ovarian cysts – are often excluded.

But in an industry that’s struggling to right itself, Women Grow CEO Chanda Macias believes focusing on women’s health issues is an opportunity for marijuana businesses to regain their footing.

“Our needs are not being met through cannabis-based medicine – it’s very alarming,” Macias said.

“We’re starting to see adult-use programs plateau and medical markets sink, but no one is tapping into women’s unmet needs in cannabis.”

Turning focus to women’s health

Female health issues will be part of the 2025 focus for Women Grow, a Washington, D.C.-based organization whose goal is to empower women in the cannabis industry by providing networking opportunities, mentoring and business support.

The group is hosting the Women Grow Leadership Summit on Feb. 17-18 at the Gaylord Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

Husband-and-wife team Guy Rocourt and Anea Bogue saw an opportunity to address women’s menopause symptoms through their newly formed wellness company, Clea Midlife, which carries the tagline “Welcome to Your Menomorphosis” for its hemp-derived cannabinoid products.

“While some might see menopause as a ‘niche’ topic, 51% of the population will experience it – which makes it anything but,” said Rocourt, a former CEO of California-based infused products maker Papa & Barkley.

The couple created all-natural products that relieve symptoms associated with menopause, such as insomnia, brain fog and focus, joint pain, skin hydration and a personal lubricant to relieve the vaginal dryness that comes with menopause.

Rocourt and Bogue market Clea as a wellness brand rather than promoting its products as being hemp-derived.

It’s a strategy they hope will entice people who otherwise might not consider cannabis products into trying them.

“We are a wellness company that happens to be powered by this incredible plant,” said Bogue, whose commitment to women’s empowerment led her to create the Real Girl program to support girls and women.

“It’s important that we be accessible to as many women as possible.

“It would be a barrier to call it a cannabis product first and a wellness product second.”

Bogue said orders for the products have been steady since the company’s formal launch on Jan. 1.

Roadblocks to growth

The Women Grow forum also plans to address career development.

Macias notes that most women start in the cannabis industry as in-house counsel or at CPA firms.

“Yet our labor force does not give us equal pay in cannabis or in any other type of industry,” said Macias, who has been CEO and board chair of Women Grow since 2018.

“We’re looking forward to addressing that at the summit.”

Entrepreneurial women still have a difficult time finding capital to fund their businesses – another topic the Women Grow forum will explore.

“We’ll look at different models, including crowdfunding, to help women get operational,” said Macias, also the CEO of National Holistic Healing Center in D.C.

Christina Johnson knows firsthand how difficult it is to secure funding for a cannabis startup.

Johnson, who recently opened Standard Wellness Maryland’s The Forest cannabis store, said she raised $330,000 from friends and family when she was pursuing her license.

“It’s difficult to raise capital in large amounts for startup businesses from friends and family from the working class with little discretionary income who don’t appreciate the needs and challenges of entrepreneurship,” Johnson said.

“They don’t understand how investment capital works and what the timeline on the returns are.

“When you’re dealing with the general public that doesn’t do investing for a living, you’ve got several hurdles, including insufficient capital to invest and to not understanding how investments work.”

When Johnson looked beyond her friends-and-family network, she quickly discovered she had to look to an array of sources to raise capital – less than 2% of venture capital funding goes to women entrepreneurs, and women of color receive less than half a percent.

She created a program within her company that pursues grant awards from organizations that help startups with business expenses.

“Many of them targeted women and minority businesses, but they will have to reframe the programs because of DEI challenges at the federal level,” Johnson said.

Cannabis industry consultant Gail Rand, founder and CEO of Maryland-based Grand Consulting, said that as the industry matures, investors are becoming more sophisticated.

Companies must have strong business fundamentals – such as a solid revenue model, efficient operations and sound financial management – to successfully raise capital and attract investors.

“I’ve worked with several women-led companies that shine in managing cash flows, cost management, compliance and leadership, which was shown to be critical in accessing capital,” Rand said.

Can cannabis survive its regulators?

Regardless of whether a business is operated by a man or a woman, Oregon-based cannabis consultant Beau Whitney says, regulatory policies are failing the industry, and he doesn’t see that changing in 2025.

“There is hypersensitivity toward public safety and that’s good,” said Whitney, who will participate on the Economic Growth and Innovation panel at the upcoming Women Grow event.

“But the regulators seem to be more focused on public safety than their constituents, so they’re regulating the businesses out of business,”

According to Whitney’s 2024 business-conditions survey, only 27% of U.S. cannabis businesses are profitable.

“It shows there’s a lack of health in the overall business of cannabis,” he said.

Whitney is critical of the dispensary model as a form of distribution because it limits demand to only those people who are comfortable visiting marijuana stores.

He points to Minnesota as an example of a market that’s successfully moving away from the dispensary model.

“There’s a level of legal participation even in the absence of a fully deployed program,” Whitney said.

“You can go to a grocery store and pick up a four-pack of THC-infused beverages.”

Margaret Jackson can be reached at margaret.jackson@mjbizdaily.com.