Bridging the Gap: Why Women Are Driving the Next Chapter of Medical Cannabis

Many women in the room have been asking this question for years, and by the end of the session, there could be little doubt that this patient group is one of the most influential in shaping the future of medical cannabis care.  

Women spoke about how they turned to medical cannabis after less-than-positive experiences with conventional healthcare, for conditions such as endometriosis, menopause, PMDD and chronic pain, and found it genuinely helps them. Rather than wait for medicine to catch up, they are sharing their experience with others to help advance access to these new treatments. 

And much of what the panel described tracks closely with what I see at Releaf Clinic. 

Barriers to access 

Research into women’s health is still lacking.

Endometriosis alone affects more than 10 million women worldwide and still takes an average of eight years to diagnose. This is not a niche patient group but a huge population of women who have spent years being underserved by the medical system before they even reach a cannabis clinic.

The barrier I hear about most consistently from patients is not being listened to by NHS healthcare professionals, and it’s one I have written about extensively in this series. 

The panellists emphasised this, suggesting that women are discovering medical cannabis treatment through patient communities and peer support networks, rather than their own healthcare providers.

But some patients face more barriers than others.

Stigma affects people differently, with the panel noting the disparity in Black maternal mortality in the UK, which is three to four times higher than for white women. This is a trend that is unfortunately reflected in other areas of medicine too.

Any conversation about closing gaps in medical cannabis access has to acknowledge the fact that not everyone is starting from the same point.

How demand is reshaping the sector

More optimistically though, the field of medical cannabis is different to other areas of medicine. Patient demand is feeding directly back into product and service design, rather than the other way around. 

It is encouraging to see increasing innovation in administration methods, such as pastilles and suppositories, as well as new approaches to how clinics reach patients, with more thought going into how women actually access treatment day to day. 

But there is still a way to go to address the specific needs of this patient group.

Women in the clinic often request more discreet administration methods so they can medicate throughout the day, and many would like more choice of CBD-dominant or balanced products, containing other terpenes and cannabinoids alongside THC. 

Future opportunities  

While there is still a long way to go, the future of women’s healthcare, particularly in the medical cannabis space, looks promising. 

In this emerging sector, we have an opportunity to design care and treatment around unmet needs and address the conditions that actually affect women, rather than relying on treatment models built around a male default.

But this has to go much wider than cannabis clinics. Last year, a poll found that three-quarters of NHS doctors themselves believe treatment options for women’s health conditions are too limited. When the clinicians most invested in the current system say openly that it isn’t working, it is clear that things need to change.

And that change starts with listening to women.