Using participatory arts-based research to explore the experiences of cannabis consumption among women from marginalized social positions in downtown Hamilton

Abstract

This research explores the subjective experiences and perspectives of women who occupy marginalized positions in Canadian society who consume cannabis. While cannabis use has been normalized among certain populations since legalization, it remains unclear how this new terrain will impact women's experiences of access, consumption, and disclosure, especially those experiencing marginalization along various axes of identity such as gender, race, and class. The women participated in the art-making process of creating their own personalized body map, a life- sized image of one’s body that includes shapes, images, colours, and symbols to visually represent their life story. Accompanying and complimenting the artwork, were the women’s narratives that reflected their lives, relationships, and experiences related to cannabis consumption, offering a nuanced and complex understanding of their experiences. An intersectional feminist lens foregrounds the research, drawing on the principles of Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR), to examine the experiences of women who consume cannabis, the ways in which their cannabis use may be perceived and understood by health and social care providers and systems, and whether they will benefit from legalization in the same way as those with more privileged identities. The theoretical and methodological choices are intended to emphasize how social positionings impact and differentiate women’s’ experiences while also considering how particular identities are influenced by structural forces, unequal social relationships, and power imbalances. Moreover, this research study seeks to centre the lived experiences and voices of women, while analyzing the complex, multi-dimensional, and overlapping factors that impact women’s decision-making processes, motives, and experiences with cannabis use. The research is essential to create new knowledge that can inform social work and allied professional policies and practices to serving women, and shift the current discourse surrounding women’s cannabis use, thereby reducing stigmatizing practices and policies in health and social related fields.