On a recent Sunday in suburban St. Louis, some 50 women gather in an unassuming event space for a festive — and unusual — evening of bingo.

Within the space’s pink and green walls, the women crowd around card tables strewn with bingo cards and laden with bags of popcorn, chips, cheese puffs and candy bars.

Also, on the tables in plain sight, are piles of loose marijuana flowers, rows of pre-rolled joints and bowls of edibles. In one corner of the room is a “dabbing station” for those who prefer a more highly concentrated THC buzz.

Amid a haze of smoke, it’s clear many of these women are getting high.

Welcome to a gathering of “STL Cannamoms,” a group of Midwestern mothers who use marijuana regularly for a variety of reasons and say they believe it makes them better parents.

Cannabis. Marijuana. Grass. Weed. Pot. Call it whatever you want, they say — just don’t call them bad moms.

“We have moms that are grandmas … and we have moms that are lawyers or realtors or they’re cleaning ladies, or they are bartenders or teachers or nurses,” says Kimberlee Kesterson, co-founder of the group.

Missouri is one of 24 states, along with Washington, D.C., that have legalized recreational marijuana. Kesterson and Jessica Carroll, a mother of two, started STL Cannamoms in 2022. Their Facebook group now has more than 4,000 members.

“It’s a non-judgmental place,” one mom tells CNN at the recent game night.

“I’m not doing it to party,” says another mom about using weed. “I’m doing it to relax.”

As barriers to marijuana use fall across the country, these women are among an increasing number who are openly saying yes to cannabis. Some have faced criticism for using cannabis but say they are careful to limit their marijuana intake while parenting. Others ask whether taking small doses of weed makes them less responsible parents than a mom who drinks glasses of wine.

“It definitely helps me stay patient (as a parent),” says Kesterson, a mother of four, about her marijuana use. “I actually want to sit down and do stuff with my kids instead of sitting and scrolling on my phone all day.”

These “cannamoms” say they’re not prescribed marijuana by a doctor. Instead, they’re using the plant in small doses to cope with the stresses of life and motherhood.

“I just feel more present … more insightful and more playful, and more down to watch ‘Moana’ for the fiftieth time,” says Shonitria Anthony, a journalist and the host of a podcast called “Blunt Blowin’ Mama.” Anthony, her partner and her two children live in Georgia, where recreational marijuana use like hers is illegal but limited medical use of cannabis is allowed.

She says she started Blunt Blowin’ Mama nearly a decade ago to “normalize moms who smoke weed.” The podcast is an unapologetic celebration of moms like Anthony who consume marijuana, talk about their experiences and share information about the cannabis industry.

It’s difficult to know exactly how many mothers are using marijuana, but with more than 85 million moms in the US and a 2023 national survey that found 19.5 million females 12 or older said they used marijuana within the last month, it’s likely that millions of moms are consuming it in some way.

Thirty-nine US states now allow marijuana use for medical purposes. Scientific research suggests cannabis can help with pain relief, control of nausea and appetite stimulation, although the drug’s psychological effects can complicate how users respond.

Anthony started smoking weed when she was 18 years old as a “communal ritual with friends.” Now she calls it her “medicine,” although she does not have a doctor’s prescription. Anthony says cannabis calms her anxiety and helps her be a better parent to her 10-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son.

“I find that I am more calm, I make better decisions. I am less reactive,” says Anthony. “In my mind consuming cannabis makes me a 1,000% better mom.”

Like Anthony, Sabrina Guerrero is a mother of two who consumes cannabis. She has an 8-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter.

Guerrero, a stay-at-home mom, says she uses marijuana in different ways, multiple times a day, to cope with her diagnosed post-traumatic stress syndrome and ADHD. She says she used to take doctor-prescribed drugs, but with marijuana she is “finding what my kids do is funny, laughing with them and enjoying the moment or a movie,” something she says she was not able to do on pharmaceuticals.

Guerrero is a content creator in central California, a state where recreational marijuana has been legal since 2016. She writes about cannabis and hosts events where other moms can openly consume and are “safe from judgment and stigma,” she says.

Even so, there still is judgment.

Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal substance in the US and its use is growing, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services.

It’s classified as a Schedule 1 drug like heroin and LSD, other drugs with high potential for abuse. But there’s been a recent effort by the federal government to reclassify it as a lower-risk drug.

Cannamoms believe the benefits of marijuana outweigh the risks if used responsibly.

But Anthony says she has been attacked online by people who say marijuana is harmful and question her approach to parenting.

“I’ve gotten emails from people saying I shouldn’t be a mom,” she says. Or “I don’t deserve to have kids.”

Guerrero says she and her husband have experienced similar criticism from people who say they don’t love their children and deserve to have them taken away.

Studies have linked consuming marijuana with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Cannabis also can impair one’s judgment and cause slower reaction times — a potential problem when taking care of children.

“Children deserve healthy mothers who could connect with their children and have healthy coping skills for the daily stresses of life,” says Aubree Adams, director of Every Brain Matters, a nonprofit created by families who have been negatively impacted by marijuana. The nonprofit partners with Moms Strong, a parent support group warning about the dangers of weed.

“My son became addicted and had episodes of psychosis from the high-potency marijuana products that became legal in our state,” says Adams. That state is Colorado, which began selling legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2014.

Adams has been an anti-marijuana advocate ever since and says the idea that weed is not harmful is “one of the biggest deceptions of our time.” She says “It doesn’t make you better at anything — especially, it doesn’t make you better with your relationships. Relationships are parenting.

“Impaired parenting is not good for America’s children.”

Anthony says her children are aware that she uses marijuana.

“I have grinders and rolling trays. I call it my tools, my cannabis tools, but they’re put away in a cabinet and … (my kids) know what they look like,” she says.

“I want them to find out about cannabis from me before they find out about it from anyone else.”

Guerrero says her 8-year-old son recently came into her bedroom while she was consuming.

“I’m not hiding, and they see, but I’m also not throwing it in their faces,” she says. “I want him to respect the plant, just how (you) would respect … pharmaceuticals in someone’s cabinet.”

Cannamoms say there are misconceptions about moms like them and their ability to use drugs and function responsibly while taking care of their kids.

“How are you protecting your kids when you’re drinking a beer or drinking a glass of wine?” Anthony says. “For folks to think that parents who smoke weed are sitting in the house and getting stoned out of their mind is just ridiculous.”

As with drinking alcohol, using weed is about knowing your limits and taking small amounts to minimize its effects, cannamoms say.

“I’m not getting wasted. It’s microdosing throughout the day just to feel normal,” Guerrero says.

“I want people to know that we are good moms, we are good wives, we are good daughters, and we are contributing members of the society,” she says, getting emotional.

Some health experts, however, say that microdosing can be imprecise because it depends on the user’s tolerance and the THC level of the marijuana product. The potency of weed has increased in recent years, potentially catching some users off guard, and regulators have failed to keep up.

In St. Louis, Kesterson finishes smoking a joint in her garage while her kids are in the house. The STL Cannamoms leader says she’s not worried about what other people think of her.

“I feel very secure within myself and who I am and how I use cannabis,” she says. “And if people want to judge me for that or make an assumption that I’m a bad mom, then let them. That’s not something that’s keeping me up at night.”

CNN producers Maya Blackstone and Madeleine Stix contributed to this story.