Ladylike cannabis at The Flower Shop: Arizona dispensary makes marijuana more appealing to women

PHOENIX - As more states legalize recreational marijuana, it is becoming more socially acceptable to use it. However, many women, particularly moms, are still a bit hesitant to try it and the Flower Shop dispensary is trying to change that.

When you walk into The Flower Shop in Phoenix near 32nd Street and McDowell Road, a pink product line stands out. It looks like a cosmetics counter, or candy, but the Ladylike line is cannabis.

Overall, the brand is so fun, because it’s a play on what traditionally people assume ladylike would be," Great Brandt said.

Decades ago, many thought of June Cleaver as ladylike. 

But even in the 1960’s, the famous TV housewife knew that women’s roles were changing. In an old clip, she told her son that women can be doctors and lawyers.

"I came into the industry through legal," Brandt said. "I'm a lawyer by trade."

Now Brandt is the President of The Flower Shop. With multiple dispensaries in the Valley as well as in Utah, business is booming.

But Brandt says until now, the cannabis industry has not focused on women, and marketing to moms has always been an afterthought.

"There wasn’t anything that was geared towards women or marketed towards women," Brandt said. "So, finding an opportunity to create a brand that is specifically geared towards women was a priority for me."

According to a recent report, Gen Z women are now the fastest growing consumers of legal cannabis.

"The particular products that we have are edibles, mints, vapes, and have a blend of minor cannabinoids that we've chosen to specifically highlight ailments that we see are plaguing women," Brandt said.

Budtender Laurissa Abrizo talks with customers of all ages.

"The two top when it comes to sleeping problems due to anxiety or restlessness a lot of customers come in with aches and pains, inflammation, a lot of arthritis, my walker customers, my 70-year-old ladies coming in," Abrizo said.

The dispensary hopes that as more conversations happen, more women will feel comfortable to walk in."Whether you choose to do it on the medical side or recreational side, there is a benefit," Brandt said. "It just requires education and I wish there was a better word than education because it’s so overused, but the reality is we still have a long way to go on educating people about cannabis."