Cannabis and Motherhood with Amber Dorsey

Embracing Being A Weed Mom & Professional

The turning point for Amber came in 2020. She loved being home all day with her kids during quarantine – but she didn’t love sneaking out to the garage for a quick toke, or pretending she was doing laundry. “I thought, why am I sneaking around? This is my house. I pay the bills. I’m grown!”

So she stopped hiding. At first, it was odd. But dispensaries were declared essential workers, which opened up avenues of conversation for her kids. She leaned into the community side of cannabis, reaching out to women across the internet who were open about their consumption with kids at home. She went from sneaking off to the laundry room to announcing that Mom was going to the garage for a few minutes.

Amber came to cannabis from the world of digital marketing. She had experience in product photography from her blogging days, and she quickly found that it translated well into cannabis.

“In 2021 and 2022, there were so many accessories coming out, especially for women. I was a small business. It’s not a full studio, but I’d get you the photos taken on my dining room table, in between picking up and dropping off kids.”

Cannabis products on her dining table became central to her conversations about weed with her kids. “They’d come home from school and ask. I’d tell them what it was and what it was for. Then they’d ask for a snack. Kids don’t care.”

That observation has stayed with her as she shared more about her consumption with her kids. “I’ll be smoking a joint outside, and my son will come up and ask me a random question. No big deal.”

The friends Amber has made within the industry have helped her normalize it as well. OG Peachie, Wiz Khalifa’s mom, is one of her best friends. “My son sees cannabis on a grander scale, and it’s so normal. Everyone is smoking at [Peachie’s] house.”

Normalization looks like a household where kids don’t blink when mom says, “Let me smoke a joint, and we’ll go to the movies.” It looks like a 14-year-old walking through Wiz Khalifa’s house past all the weed just to ask his mom where he can get a snack.

One would guess that all this exposure may lead Amber’s kids to cannabis – but it’s actually done the opposite. “My son does not care at all. He’s not interested in weed or smoking. My daughter only consumes tinctures.”

Cannabis, Motherhood, and Neurodivergence

While she’s been consuming cannabis for nearly 30 years, the plant still teaches her about herself. Amber came to the realization that she had ADHD late in life. She sees it in her children and her parents.

Like many neurodivergent adults, cannabis helps Amber manage her often-scattered brain. “Cannabis helps me manage my ADHD. As I’ve gotten older, my ADHD has gotten worse. Cannabis helps me lock in. All the tabs are still open, and there’s music playing in my head, but it’s jazz, not screamo.”

Learning about the plant and her brain took Amber down a deep dive into terpenes and minor cannabinoids, and the immense possibilities of personalization in a cannabis routine. She credits finding the right doses at the right time with giving her day structure. “My ADHD has terrible executive function. If my brain isn’t hungry, I can’t eat. But with cannabis, I can reward myself. I’m a sticker chart girl. I structure my day with the right amount of cannabis at the right time as a reward, and to keep myself on track.”

Deepening her knowledge of the plant has also helped her to personalize her medicinal ritual. “I need more limonene, more ocimene in the morning. I can’t hit an entire blunt in the morning and still do my day.”

As a Budist, Amber is always exploring the best of California’s cannabis. She embraces it. “It’s a field study. I’m the subject. You have to keep track of how you feel. Just because you want an upper doesn’t mean that’s what your body needs. Cannabis makes you listen to your body.”

Cannabis also helps Amber stay curious about herself and her needs, rather than disparaging. “I’ve had these behaviors since I was a kid. Cannabis makes it a joy to figure out [my brain] and not just write myself off as weird.”

Amber chooses to manage her ADHD with cannabis rather than prescription medication. “Without my weed, I’m a sad plant with no water or sunlight. With cannabis, I don’t feel like I’m struggling. I don’t beat myself up if I’m not performing at the same level every day. It helps me give myself grace.”

A Better Mom with Weed

Amber’s been consuming cannabis since before her kids came around, but her life changed most dramatically when she stopped hiding it from them. “Cannabis helps me revert to being a kid again. It can be hard to stop the mom stuff. To ignore the laundry and play Legos instead, or spend hours on Connect 4.”

As anyone with a noisy brain knows, it can be hard to stay present and focused when your mind is a six-lane highway. But for Amber, cannabis helps it all quiet down. “Cannabis allows me to show up as my full self. It allowed me to be more free and open and honest. To be okay with not being the perfect mom.”

Ultimately, Amber knows that cannabis helps her show up as the mom she wants to be. “Cannabis helps me let go, and my kids have gotten a better mom because of it. I see the stress in other moms, but this helps me relax.”