Abstract: Background: Women veterans are at risk for substance use and substance use disorders, although there remains limited data on substance use in women veterans. Methods: A secondary analysis of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2015 to 2019 and 2021 was conducted to compare women veterans with women non-veterans and men veterans on substance-related outcomes, including lifetime substance use, frequency of past 30-day substance use, and past-year substance use disorders for cannabis, opioids, and stimulants. Results: From 2015 to 2019, women veterans were about 53 % and 24 % more likely to have used cannabis in their lifetime compared to women non-veterans and men veterans, respectively. Approximately 1 % and 5.3 % of women veterans were diagnosed with a cannabis use disorder from 2015 to 2019 and in 2021, respectively. From 2015 to 2019, women veterans were about 45 % less likely to have experienced a cannabis use disorder within the past year compared to women non-veterans (p = 0.007). In 2021, women veterans were less likely than women non-veterans to have been diagnosed with a past-year stimulant use disorder (p = 0.008). Women veterans reported higher lifetime rates of prescription opioid, non-prescribed prescription opioid, and stimulant use, although they were not more likely to have a use disorder. Conclusions: Women veterans differ from their peers related to substance use trends, and thus, there is a need for the development of gender-focused interventions to both identify and manage substance use-related issues in this population.