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The Atlantic ·Future-gazing

A New Generation of Moms Who Get High

by Sarah Levy

Published 2026-06-17 08:00:00-04:00

If a mother gets high to stay patient with her kids, is she really being present?

0:00 / 12:43 · Narrator Gacrux

Context

Writing on 17 June 2026, The Atlantic spends time with a growing online community of mothers who smoke weed every morning just to get through the day. They call it gardening, framing the habit as a necessary tool to meet the endless demands of modern, gentle parenting. The reporting holds up because it skips the obvious moral panic. Instead, it asks a sharper question: what does it say about the current state of motherhood that so many women feel they need to be mildly sedated just to sit on the floor and play with their kids?

Show notes

An examination of mothers who use daily cannabis to cope with the isolation and demands of modern parenting. Drawing on interviews with parents, psychologists, and addiction researchers, the reporting contrasts the mothers' belief that weed helps them stay patient with clinical evidence that being high limits their ability to respond to their children. It also covers the dependency risks of highly potent THC products.

Read on The Atlantic →