Twice as many women as men suffer depression and are likely to experience anxiety or PTSD — conditions which psychedelics are most commonly used to treat.
Whether through research, writing, entrepreneurship, investment, or artistic endeavor, women are making important inroads in the emerging psychedelics market. A 2020 Global Drug Survey found that women are more likely than men to use LSD and magic mushrooms to treat psychiatric conditions and emotional stress.
“It’s time we stepped into our power and psychedelics can help us do that,” says Zoe Helene, founder of environmental feminist collective Cosmic Sister. Helene coined the term “Psychedelic Feminism”, which is a sub-genre of feminism that embraces the transformational power of psychic plants, and she isn’t the only one who sees the potential of psychedelics to positively impact women’s lives.
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Susan Chapelle, Havn Life’s (OTC: HAVLF) executive vice president for research and development, sees massive growth in integrating psychedelics into women’s health. She points to the War on Drugs, which disproportionally impacted women and low-income communities, as evidence of a political bias that continues to deprive these demographics of access to safe and effective plant medicines due to restrictive regulations. By creating a safe, standardized supply chain for researchers, Chapelle hopes to break down this bias and get psychedelics to those who could most benefit, women included.
As Ann Barnes, CEO of Edica Naturals and co-director of Red Light Holland (OTC: TRUFF) says, “Now, the massive amount of research being done by the psychedelic community will truly help women; this will be an imperative part of women’s health.” According to the American Psychiatric Association, every year one in five women in the U.S. has a mental health problem such as depression, PTSD, or an eating disorder, which makes Barnes’ prediction sound more like realism than optimism.
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The APA also states that twice as many women suffer depression as men, and twice as many women are likely to experience anxiety or PTSD — conditions which psychedelics are most commonly used to treat. In 2020, Data Bridge Market Research projected that the psychedelic drugs market would reach $6.5 billion dollars by 2027, growth at least partially attributed to factors such as the increasing prevalence of depression and mental disorders and the increasing acceptance of psilocybin as an effective treatment.
With women at the forefront of a mental health revolution working to incorporate psychedelics into treatment protocols and a large and growing population of women in need of the benefits these substances offer, the economic future of the psychedelics market could very well be female.
This article originally appeared on Green Market Report and has been reposted with permission.
