Founded in 2016, Whoopi & Maya is a joint medical cannabis venture between multi-award-winning actress, Whoopi Goldberg; and founder of Om Edibles, seven-time winner of the High Times Cannabis Cup, Maya Elisabeth. Based in the Bay Area, Whoopi & Maya offer a range of products for menstrual relief, including a bath soak, raw cacao powder, salve and tincture. With a focus on holistic practices and top-quality ingredients, Whoopi & Maya seek to provide women with natural, effective options to relieve menstrual cramps and discomfort.
Using pot for PMS seems like an obvious solution, given that even Queen Victoria used cannabis for her menstrual cramps – back in 1890. However, decades of propaganda and misinformation have led to a stigmatization of this effective, natural medicine, and quality research on cannabis is hindered by federal laws that criminalize it. Additionally, in societies the world over, the discussion, or even mention of periods has long been considered wholly taboo. Whoopi and Maya hope to overcome these stigmas by beginning an honest, open discussion about cannabis – and the potential it has to alleviate period troubles.
As a longtime sufferer of difficult periods, Whoopi Goldberg sought and found a solution in medicinal cannabis, which was infinitely preferable to pills and pharmaceuticals full of ingredients she couldn’t even pronounce, let alone identify. However, when she looked for cannabis products that addressed these needs, she was told that the area was considered a ‘niche’. “Well, that niche encompasses half the planet!” Goldberg says. “I used to be under the table with my cramps, and my daughter and granddaughters are the same way. With all these different [cannabis] products, there wasn’t something for women. That says a lot about us as a nation.” Whoopi recognized that people don’t think of menstrual cramps as a real, serious problem, when they are. Sufferers of difficult periods often stay home from work or school, rendered immobile by excruciating pain and discomfort. “This isn’t about getting [women] high, it’s about getting them to be able to go to work and school and to function,” says Goldberg.
Maya Elisabeth, Whoopi & Maya’s Co-Founder and Infuser, agrees. “What would society look like if men had a period once a month? Would there be paid time off, more studies, more options for medicines? I hope to see how [Whoopi & Maya] changes the perception of the average cannabis user. It’s not just about getting high. [It’s about] healing, prevention, finding relief, and day-to-day management.”
To address these issues, Whoopi & Maya have created a line of products in several scents, sizes, and strengths, designed to work individually or together to provide a full range of monthly relief. Launching in early 2016, they arrived on the scene at the cusp of potential legalization, in the final days of the unregulated, rapid growth known as the “Wild West” of the cannabis industry. “Whoopi & Maya has the opportunity to set the Gold Standard for the medical cannabis industry. We have given ourselves a mandate to not only provide a quality therapeutic product, but also to educate the public and support social reform,” says Ms. Goldberg. Combining therapeutic cannabis with a range of carefully chosen herbs and minerals, each product’s ingredients list has been conscientiously cultivated to provide optimum relief.
LEARN MORE:
Whoopi & Maya Website
A Baker’s Dozen Questions: Whoopi & Maya’s Herbalist Alexis Gandara
A Baker’s Dozen Questions: Whoopi & Maya’s Co-Founder & Infuser Maya Elisabeth
Whoopi & Maya Press Release
Whoopi Goldberg Explains Her Pot-for-PMS Products, Whoopi & Maya
We Tried Cannabis Products For Our Period Pain And They Actually Helped