Seemingly overnight, cannabis has transformed from a stigmatized street drug to mainstream wellness darling. In the U.S., CBD has taken over seemingly every market, cannabis is a $13 billion market, recreational cannabis is legal in 11 states and Washington D.C. and could soon be legal at the federal level, and public opinion is the most lax it’s ever been.
According to Pew Research Center’s most recent data, 91% of adults say cannabis should be legal either for medical and recreational use, or just medical. Just 8% believe cannabis should remain completely illegal. “I have so many mom friends that smoke at night before they go to bed,” says Lisa. “It’s just changed. People have changed their perspective.”
Not only have drugs like cannabis become less stigmatized, they’ve become embraced as a wellness antidote. “I need to be a little bit more mindful of the way that I treat my body, and to me, cannabis is a great way to treat it. It’s a way to actually have self-care and promote wellness instead of just something I use to obliterate or forget about the moment,” says Brand, who is writing a book about moms and cannabis.
Recent research shows that cannabis could help treat anxiety, manage pain, and help people sleep, among other health benefits. Considering an estimated 40 million Americans are dealing with anxiety, 50 million with chronic pain, and up to 70 million with sleep problems, it’s hardly a surprise that cannabis-based products have become so popular. And though most findings are fairly preliminary, this popularity is causing both recreational and medicinal use to surge — and possibly edge out alcohol. A 2017 U.S. study saw alcohol sales drop 12% in counties where medical cannabis was legalized, suggesting a less than casual relationship between the rise of cannabis and the decline of alcohol.
Americans want to forgo alcohol because it fuels inauthentic interactions, and results in physical and moral hangovers.
David Wilder, a freelance journalist and blogger who writes about psychedelics and considers himself (mostly) Cali Sober, also incorporates psychedelics into his recreational and health lifestyle, saying the substances have “helped a lot with easing my depression and anxiety, and got me into spirituality a little bit, too.”
Like cannabis, psychedelics are undergoing a cultural rewrite. There’s been a recent resurgence of research into the role of LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, ayahuasca, and other psychedelic substances in treating depression, PTSD, addiction, and other forms of mental illness, and laymen of all stripes are experimenting with these mind-altering substances outside of medical settings in hopes of becoming happier, healthier, or — more commonly — both.