All the stoner ladies
BY JESSI CAPE, FRI., APRIL 15, 2022
Pulled from an original article in Austin Chronicle.
While the draconian, Republican-led Texas governing body is sittin’ pretty as one of the slowest states to legalize, cannabis consumers are green with envy about the April 1 rec sales in New Mexico. (We see you crossing the border to stand in line, Lubbock!) And a majority of those folks – and consumers across the country – identify as female.
Bethany Gomez, managing director at Brightfield Group (a leading cannabis market and consumer research firm), says, “We believe the future of cannabis is female, as our data shows women make up 59% of new cannabis consumers. During the pandemic, women, specifically in Gen Z, had the fastest growth [in] year-over-year sales for legal cannabis. This can be attributed to the industry’s shift in public attitudes as well as the designs and packaging being more sophisticated and appealing to women.” Even more, their research found that specifically regarding 4/20, “the majority of consumers using more cannabis than usual to celebrate are in fact female. With increasing cannabis use nationwide, the launch of new markets, and new states legalizing, consumers are itching to celebrate cannabis this year.”
Here in Austin, Restart CBD (restartcbd.com) is a sister-owned and -operated business, and co-founders Shayda, Sydney, and Nika Torabi have been using CBD since 2015: “Our family built this business from the ground up in this primarily male-dominated industry to help educate, advocate, and destigmatize cannabis in hopes that our journey can inspire other women to see cannabis [and its] beautiful and healing properties.” Restart CBD works with hemp-farming communities, local educators, other industry leaders, and manufacturers to improve cannabis conversations and opportunities, and Shayda sits on the Texas Hemp Coalition and runs a cannabis podcast. Products available online and in their brick-and-mortar (2521 Rutland Dr. Ste. 150-A) include certified organic tinctures, vegan gummies, Delta-8 brownie bites, taffy, lemonade, flower, vapes, capsules, and more. Seriously, they’ve got it all.