Women’s most-Googled cannabis questions get answered – Aspen Times

Although Apple removed all 181 vaping-related apps from the App Store last week, the number of cannabis-focused podcasts continues to grow. And one of the smartest yet has just dropped, promising to give women guidance on “How to Do the Pot.” The seasonal, narrative podcast tackles the most common questions curious female cannabis consumers Google most — usually in secret.

As an early innovator in the cannabis industry, April Pride’s path has taken her from fashion designer to cannabis company founder to podcast host. In 2016, she launched Van der Pop, one of the first luxury lifestyle brands in the business to offer high-style smoking accoutrements. Later, Pride incorporated an educational resource into Van der Pop’s digital presence dedicated to the many new consumers she’d attracted. Two years later, it was acquired by Canadian behemoth Canopy Growth Corporation — the first cannabis producer publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Through her work, Pride recognized that women were an underserved and fast-growing market who wanted information about cannabis, especially as legalization and positive acceptance continued to spread across North America. Her foresight earned her the title from Fashion magazine (aka Canada’s Vogue) as “the unofficial godmother of the women and weed movement.”

“When I started my first company that designed discerning products for cannabis, I underestimated the need for education. While women appreciated my products, many were not confident in their knowledge about how to buy cannabis and how it could serve them,” Pride told me.

For her cannabis career encore, Pride enlisted friend and business partner Ellen Scanlon to form Of Like Minds, a new cannabis education platform for women. Part of its portfolio is podcasting, with production in collaboration with Western Sound, an award-winning Los Angeles-based studio and Gina Delvic, the founding producer of “Call Your Girlfriend.”

“We decided to form Of Like Minds, a business with a mission to equip women with the information they need to understand cannabis,” Pride said. “We decided that a podcast would be one of the best first steps to provide quality information and promote discreet discovery for women still uncertain about the plant and its effects.”

Listeners will hear from a diverse array of industry experts and professionals who have incorporated cannabis in their lives. Guests will include a professional athlete who uses CBD in training, a retiree who uses cannabis for pain management, a medical doctor who advises pregnant women, and a felon-turned-entrepreneur. “How to Do the Pot’s” first season will focus on topics relevant to the health and happiness of women such as pregnancy, sleep and auto-immune conditions like endometreosis—of which women account for 8 out of 10 diagnoses.

“The industry has long been male-led, which overlooked the needs of women, the fastest growing consumer segment,” says Ellen Scanlon, co-founder Of Like Minds. “‘How to Do the Pot’ is our opportunity to share the best stories in cannabis, change hearts, and minds, while helping women feel more confident in their choices.”

Here’s a preview of what the first three episodes cover—available for download now with the next three released weekly on Dec. 3, 7, and 10.

Episode 1: What’s up with CBD?

“An examination of ‘the cannabis that won’t get you high,’ that’s been billed as capable of doing everything else. The science behind pain relief, the difference between THC and CBD, how one top athlete uses CBD for pain and recovery—and what we all can learn from her story.”

Questions answered:

• How is hemp different from cannabis?

• How is CBD different from THC?

• What’s the science behind cannabis and pain relief?

• How does one top athlete use CBD and what can we all learn from her story?

• What’s the role of cannabis in reducing opioid consumption for acute and chronic pain?

Episode 2: Is weed cool when you’re pregnant?

“The whispered question we get more than any other. What we know, and what we don’t, about cannabis, pregnancy and nursing.”

Questions answered:

• What data exist around how many women use cannabis while pregnant and the potential effects?

• What do doctors see in their practices?

• For women who do the pot while pregnant or breastfeeding … what do we know about using THC or CBD?

• Given how many people use cannabis to treat everything ranging from nausea to anxiety to depression, why should we should consider this subject seriously for women’s physical and mental health?

Episode 3: Is period relief spelled P-O-T?

“Promising ways that cannabis can treat pelvic pain, symptoms of endometriosis and how to best consume cannabis to relieve pain.”

Questions answered:

• What are the physical and personal effects of endometriosis?

• What are the most promising ways that cannabis can treat symptoms of PMS and endometriosis? And how best should it be consumed it to relieve pain?

• How does an endocannabinoid deficiency contribute to endometriosis and other auto-immune disorders?

• How do you talk to your doctor about endometriosis and cannabis?

Katie Shapiro can be reached at katie@katieshapiromedia.com and followed on Twitter @bykatieshapiro.