Cannabis focused dating is very in right now. There are 21 million Google hits for “cannabis and dating,” cannabis-friendly dating services are offered by coaches like Molly Peckler, and if you’re technologically inclined — there’s an app for that. Several, in fact.

In the age of cell phones, it makes sense that singles would want a streamlined way to find prospective partners with similar interests. If you’re a cannabis consumer and you’ve ever dated someone who wasn’t, you’re familiar with the occasional frustration of navigating that interaction. It makes sense that one might want to find a partner with whom they can share their herbal indulgences.

To see whether they live up to the hype, I tried out three cannabis dating apps: High There, 420 Singles, and 420 Friends. I’ve been sporadically on Tinder for a couple years now, so that was my main basis for comparison.

Did you know that I do product reviews? I love reviewing cannabis flower strains, topicals, edibles, tinctures, concentrates, vaporizers, glassware, and other supplies! Sometimes I even do sex toy reviews (but typically with regard to how they worked with a cannabis product I'm using). If you're interested in having me review your product, email [email protected] with subject line "Product for Review." 

Putting weed oil on your bits is a hot topic in the growing cannabis market. Companies like Lavinia and Quim Rock are providing cutting edge products in legal states like California. But what about those that have the urge to give it a whirl but don’t have access to a dispensary? DIY!

CW: Discussion of sexual violence, trauma, PTSD, and anxiety.

I was thrilled to be a guest on The Weed Show with Charlo Greene on January 11th. Here's the interview (queued up). Hope you like it! Let me know what you think either by leaving a comment below or on the YouTube video!

Trigger warning: Discussions of sexual violence and trauma. Practice self care.

I have to tell you all something. It something that I haven't talked about publicly. But I think it's something relevant, and I'm only now really starting to see it in its totality. I need you all to understand why me talking about sex and cannabis is kind of a huge deal for me.

We need to talk about this “weed tampon” thing. I’ve been watching for months, since Foria Relief launched in February 2016, as news outlets and media sites have gone from excellent coverage like HelloMD modeled, to this abomination of a video from Aura Publishing that makes me want to light the Internet on fire. I’m pretty sure I channeled Anger from Inside Out when I saw this video. It has 12 million views and they’re disseminating blatantly false information: the epitome of lazy, sensationalist journalism.

Please allow me to correct the misinformation:

This post is adapted from a filtered Facebook post I made a few days ago. So many people responded that they'd felt the exact same way at various points in their lives (or at this very moment!) that I realized it should probably go public on the blog. 

This article by Jess Zimmerman hit me right in the fucking feels. I have anxiety around having needs in a relationship (romantic or otherwise), because needs make me needy, and needy people don't stay in other people's lives for very long. If I want to talk to you and you're busy? I feel like I'm bothering you. If I want to hang out and you don't/can't? I'm being annoying. If I'm having big feelings (positive or negative)? I'm a burden.

CW in the article for heteronormativity, but this does track with experiences I've had in cis guy/girl pairings. I'd argue that it also applies to friendships/human relationships in general. 

"The attention whore is every low-maintenance woman’s dark mirror: the void of hunger we fear is hiding beneath our calculated restraint. It doesn’t take much to be considered an attention whore; any manifestation of that deeply natural need to be noticed and attended to is enough. You don’t have to be secretly needy to worry. You just have to be secretly human.

As a child, on an endless restrictive regimen that started when I was four, I was told “if you get used to eating less, you’ll stop being so hungry.” The secret to satiation, to satisfaction, was not to meet or even acknowledge your needs, but to curtail them. We learn the same lesson about our emotional hunger: Want less, and you will always have enough." - Jess Zimmerman

A common question I see popping up throughout sex and cannabis posts is the effects of cannabis on erections. I get that it’s a concern, but I’m here to argue that you shouldn’t let it get into your head (so to speak). The science around cannabis and erections is inconclusive at best, with one study suggesting finding, “frequency of cannabis use was unrelated to sexual problems in women but daily use vs. no use was associated with increased reporting among men of an inability to reach orgasm...reaching orgasm too quickly...and too slowly.” The study concluded, “frequent cannabis use is associated with...difficulties in men's ability to orgasm as desired.” Interestingly, another study suggested that cannabis could be used to treat erectile difficulties in people with high cholesterol. In short? The jury is still out, so your mileage may vary.

Gender is fluid. There are cisgender people, transgender people, gender nonconforming people, genderqueer people, agender people...the possibilities are endless. You can find a helpful primer on gender terminology on GLAAD’s website. All of these gender identities are normal and should be celebrated, not scorned or shamed.

As Scarleteen, a sexuality resource for teens, explains, “Gender – both how we identify with it and how others identify us through the lens of gender – can also play a part in the way we’ll have any sort of sex, how we present our sexuality to others, how we feel comfortable or uncomfortable in our sexual behaviour and attitudes, and how we might expect the dynamics of our sexual relationships with others to be.”

With that in mind, I sat down with acclaimed adult performer, director, and LGBT/human rights activist Buck Angel to talk about sex for trans men and how cannabis can be helpful.

British musician Sam Palladio once said, “If you break up with a [partner], you’re in this vulnerable state where you’re still kind of half in the relationship with them, but you’re single, and it takes a while to feel solid in yourself again."

People choose to end relationships for a multitude of reasons. Regardless of the rationale, there is pain. You’ve experienced a loss, and you have to re-create your place in a world that puts a great deal of emphasis on relationships. It doesn’t matter if you were the initiator, the receiver, or the decision was mutual--it’s difficult. Here are my top tips for surviving a breakup. Grab a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and pack a bowl. Full disclosure: I’m currently in the midst of a breakup, so this article is as much for me as it is for all of you.