‘Medical cannabis showed me that it’s going to be okay’: Kareema Weaver, founder of The Misunderstood Afro Muslimah

When I was young, I wanted nothing to do with cannabis, even though people recommended it to me for my health conditions.

I believed all of the stigmas and stereotypes about it. I worried about my future career, thinking that if I used medical cannabis, it would come back and haunt me.

It wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that I finally tried it. And I couldn’t believe my test results after my next doctor’s appointment.

Now, I advocate for others who can benefit from getting a medical cannabis card and might not even know it.

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My health history

When I was 11 or 12, I was diagnosed with intraocular hypertension, which can lead to glaucoma. I had gone to the eye doctor thinking I just needed glasses, but he found that my eye pressure was extremely elevated.

I was also diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in my mid-20s. My PCOS symptoms vary from month to month, but my cycles are extremely painful, sometimes to the point of leading me to the emergency department.

Having PCOS has been a journey. I had to advocate for myself and push to get tested for it. I had been experiencing irregular and painful cycles for so long. Like so many people with PCOS, I was put on birth control by my doctors in hopes of managing my symptoms.

It felt like I was being given a lot of “symptom fighters” instead of addressing the underlying condition. Finally, I went to my gynecologist and demanded a screening.

Then, in February 2024, my foot swelled to the size of a watermelon. It was infected, and the infection was traveling up my leg. I’m still dealing with that recovery journey, which involves a lot of inflammation, pain, and challenges with mobility.

Navigating the U.S. healthcare system

From the time I first started menstruating until I was about 18, I wore a formal hijab, so I presented to the world as a Muslim woman.

When I was no longer in hijab, I was presenting to the world solely as a Black woman, and I knew from experience that I had to advocate for myself.

I also had to be mindful of how I presented and carried myself, especially when I was in pain. I worried I wouldn’t be believed, and in some cases, I was right.

To be taken seriously, I had to start doing my own research on my conditions so I could articulate what I was experiencing to doctors.

My journey with medical cannabis

People have recommended medical cannabis to me since I was about 15 years old, mainly for my eye condition.

My first doctor actually advocated for medical cannabis, and my best friend always sent me articles about how cannabis could actually help my symptoms.

Then, during the pandemic, I decided to try it. Like many people, I was really bored during that time and became more open-minded.

I went to an eye appointment after consuming cannabis, and my eye pressure was significantly lower. Typically, my pressure is in the high teens to low 20s. After consuming cannabis, my pressure was in the low teens for the first time.

I couldn’t believe it — my pressure was actually good! That was sort of an ‘a-ha’ moment for me. It made me realize that I needed to research cannabis with an open mind. Before that, I was researching in hopes of finding proof that it doesn’t actually work, to validate my point of view. Once I saw that my eye pressure was lower, it changed my view completely.

When the eye doctor asked me what I was doing differently, I was initially too shy to tell her the only thing that had changed was my cannabis intake. When I finally told her, she just shrugged and said, “Okay. Noted.”

Getting a medical card

While I was researching cannabis for my medical conditions, I wasn’t sure if I actually needed to get a card as opposed to just getting it recreationally.

It wasn’t until I found Leafwell that I was finally convinced that getting a card was worth it. Leafwell was the first company to show me how legit a card is — and easy, too.

How medical cannabis has helped with my health conditions

The best year of my medical cannabis journey was 2024. I did a tolerance break in January of that year.

In March of 2024, I ate an edible for the first time in a long time. I tried to be intentional with it, to observe how cannabis affects my overall health instead of using it to treat different symptoms randomly.

Because I was being so intentional with cannabis, my relationship with it changed. I’ve always had really bad anxiety, and I found that using cannabis took that away and also helped with my PCOS-related cramps.

With medical cannabis, I can take just one or two pain-relieving pills and use a heating pad when I have cramps, and I’m able to get through the day.

Between my PCOS, eye pressure, and then my foot infection, it got to be overwhelming mentally. Cannabis gave me relief from that and showed me that it was going to be okay.

Fitting cannabis into my faith

I’m not calling myself an Islamic scholar — I just try to be a good Muslim. What I know is that Islam is about improving our overall way of life, and that includes our health, even during Ramadan.

A lot of Muslims say no to cannabis because it’s classified as a drug. It’s only now starting to become legal in different states and taken seriously from a medical standpoint.

It’s important to remember that there are a lot of products that can give you the health benefits of cannabis without making you feel “high,” if that’s something you’re concerned about, or if it interferes with your faith.

Why I became a medical cannabis advocate

I created my blog, The Misunderstood Afro-Muslimah, to challenge stereotypes about Black Muslim women. And then I realized that at the same time, I was buying into a lot of stereotypes about medical cannabis.

Seeing how it’s made me into a better, more productive person, I want other people to open their minds about medical cannabis like I did. After all, the science and research are there.

I want people to know that there are clear benefits to getting a medical card. If you use cannabis recreationally, I think you should consider all of the reasons you’re using it. One of these reasons might be a symptom that qualifies you for a medical card. I think it’s better to have a card and not need it than need a card and not have it.

One major benefit is that you can save money on taxes. You can also access so many more products once you have a medical card. And, there are lots of legal protections. I think people should ask themselves why they aren’t taking that leap to getting a card.

If there’s one takeaway, it’s that I hope people are more open-minded about using medical cannabis. My friends can’t believe I advocate for it now when I used to be so staunchly against it. I really encourage people to ask themselves, “Why not give it a try?”

Kareema Weaver is the founder of The Misunderstood Afro-Muslimah, a blog where she shares her experiences as a Black American Muslim woman, her healing journey with medical cannabis, and more.