Women in cannabis history are easy to overlook and hard to ignore once you start looking. Women kept herbal knowledge, organized care for seriously ill patients when cannabis was illegal, built key pieces of the science and now help run the legal industry. This guide separates the documented record from popular legends, looks at how women use cannabis today and shares practical ways to find women-owned cannabis brands in Michigan.
Why women in cannabis history deserve the spotlight
Women's History Month is observed every March. According to the Library of Congress, it began as Women's History Week in 1982, and Congress designated March 1987 as the first Women's History Month. Presidents have issued a proclamation for it every year since 1995, and the next observance arrives in March 2027.
Every March, including Women's History Month 2025 and 2026, brings fresh attention to women in cannabis. The story runs much longer than one month, though. Women were often the caregivers, the patients' advocates and the keepers of plant knowledge, roles that rarely made it into official records.
That's why this history takes some digging, and why it's worth getting right. For today's founders and executives, see our companion piece on women in the cannabis industry.
Early medicine and folklore: what the record supports and what is legend
Cannabis history is full of good stories, and not all of them hold up. Here's how three popular ones compare with the record:
| Popular claim | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| A medieval abbess wrote about hemp | Hard to check online. Hildegard von Bingen's Physica describes the uses of more than 200 plants, but hemp quotes credited to her vary, so look for a scholarly translation |
| Queen Victoria used cannabis | No direct evidence. A physician to her household praised cannabis in a medical journal, but historians call the royal story a myth |
| Brownie Mary baked for AIDS patients | Well documented, including arrests and years of hospital volunteering |
Hildegard von Bingen (1098 to 1179) was a German abbess and writer. A University of Iowa library record of the first printed edition of Physica notes that she listed the merits of more than 200 plants, 50 kinds of trees and 20 precious stones. Her work is a reminder that women in religious houses and households kept and passed on practical plant knowledge. Be wary of dramatic quotes credited to her on social media, though, since translations vary.
The Queen Victoria story is the classic legend. Sir J. Russell Reynolds, a physician to the royal household, wrote favorably about cannabis preparations in The Lancet in the late 1800s. That much is real. But a history post from the Alcohol and Drugs History Society couldn't trace the claim to the Queen's diaries or correspondence, and historian James H. Mills, in his book Cannabis Britannica, found "no direct evidence" and called the claim a myth.
The lesson for any history month: enjoy the stories, but ask where they come from.
Women activists of the medical cannabis era
Long before legal dispensaries, women were organizing to get cannabis to seriously ill people, often at real personal risk.
Mae Nutt, Beaverton, Michigan
Mae Nutt lost two sons to cancer: Dana in 1967 and Keith in 1979. In the late 1970s she became an outspoken advocate for seriously ill patients' legal access to marijuana, and her campaign reached the Michigan Legislature in 1979. After Keith died, she ran an informal "Green Cross" from the family's Beaverton home, sharing his remaining supply with other patients. The family's papers, which document the advocacy of Mae, Keith and Arnold Nutt, are held by the University of Michigan Library.
Mary Jane Rathbun, "Brownie Mary," San Francisco
Mary Jane Rathbun became famous for baking cannabis brownies for people with AIDS. For 16 years she visited the AIDS ward at San Francisco General Hospital every week, talking with patients and carrying specimens to the lab. She was arrested three times. After a 1992 arrest, prosecutors dropped the charges, and her activism helped build public support for Proposition 215, the 1996 California measure that legalized medical marijuana there. She died in 1999 at 77.
Valerie Corral, Santa Cruz, California
Valerie Corral and her husband, Michael, led the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, a patient collective near Santa Cruz. In September 2002, federal agents raided the group's farm. The Corrals were released without charges, and Santa Cruz's mayor led the city council in a symbolic handout to the patients the collective had served. The episode made the gap between state and federal law impossible to ignore.
Researchers pushing for clinical evidence
Activism raised the questions. Researchers set out to answer them, and women did a lot of that work.
- Allyn Howlett. In 1988, a St. Louis University team that included pharmacologist Allyn Howlett and her student William Devane published the seminal paper characterizing a cannabinoid receptor in the brain. That finding opened the door to decades of research on how cannabinoids act in the body. Howlett later continued her work at Wake Forest.
- Ziva Cooper. Cooper directs the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids and studies how cannabis affects men and women differently. In a 2014 analysis with Margaret Haney at Columbia University, women matched with men for cannabis use gave higher ratings to some effects linked with misuse, such as wanting to take the drug again. Ratings of feeling high didn't differ.
- Sue Sisley. Sisley, a physician and psychiatrist in Scottsdale, Arizona, pushed for better research cannabis. She criticized the federal supply she received as a "powdery mishmash of stems, sticks and leaves" and sued the Drug Enforcement Administration over its slow handling of applications to grow cannabis for research. A 2020 suit settled when the government released the legal memo behind the delay.
- Staci Gruber. Gruber, a member of Harvard Medical School's psychiatry faculty, founded the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery program at McLean Hospital. It studies medical cannabis use through long-term observational studies, surveys and clinical trials.
Work like this matters because men and women don't always respond to cannabis the same way. Knowing how responses differ helps everyone make better-informed choices.
From activism to the legal market: a short bridge
Activists helped turn compassion into law. California's Proposition 215 passed in 1996, Michigan voters approved a medical marijuana program in 2008 and adult-use legalization followed in Michigan in 2018. Today women work across the legal business, from cultivation and lab work to compliance, marketing and the sales floor.
Some became firsts. Wanda James, a military veteran, and her husband became the first African Americans to own a cannabis company in America in 2009, according to her University of Colorado regent biography. She later became the first Black woman elected to that board in more than 44 years. Read more about her in our guide to Black cannabis pioneers.
How many businesses do women own today? The answer depends on the state. A 2026 George Washington University study of 17 adult-use states with equity programs found that, where states reported it, women held from 22% of cannabis licenses in Illinois to 44% in New Jersey. Industry surveys of women in executive roles have swung widely from year to year, so no single number tells the whole story.
How women use cannabis today
Fewer women than men say they smoke cannabis, but plenty do. Gallup's combined 2023 and 2024 polling found that 15% of U.S. adults say they smoke marijuana, including 17% of men and 11% of women. That survey asked only about smoking, so it doesn't capture everyone who prefers edibles, vapes or other forms.
Research on sex differences is still young, which is one more reason to begin with a small amount of any new product and wait before having more. Every Michigan cannabis label carries a pregnancy and breastfeeding warning. If you're pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medications or managing a health condition, talk with a clinician before using cannabis.
Many women shop for themselves, for friends or for gifts. Our guides to cannabis products for women and Mother's Day cannabis gifts cover the options for adults 21 and older. And for another month that celebrates the people who shaped cannabis culture, see our look at cannabis and Pride Month.
Finding and supporting women-owned brands in Michigan
Women-owned cannabis brands aren't always labeled as such, so a little homework helps:
- Start with the label. Every Michigan cannabis package names the producer and its state license number, so you know which company to look up.
- Read the brand's own story. A company website or about page usually names its founders. Look for who owns it today, too, since "women-founded" and "women-owned" aren't always the same thing.
- Ask at the counter. Our budtenders at High Society's Michigan stores are happy to help you look into a brand and compare options.
- Look beyond March. Buying from a brand you believe in matters most when it's steady, not seasonal.
- Support the bigger picture. Mentorship, hiring and equity programs all shape who gets to build a business in this industry.
Selection varies by store and changes often, so check your store's menu for what's available today. Adults 21 and older, and registered medical patients 18 and older, can shop with a valid ID. Please consume responsibly.
