You may have heard some of the recent stories in the news about how cannabis can improve sex and pleasure and you're ready to try some of the green plant. But if you haven't tried it before — or you have and haven't used cannabis in a very long time — you might have some reservations. As someone who's a late bloomer herself with cannabis, I'll give you the lowdown on how to get started so you can be well prepared if you decide to try it out for yourself.
First and foremost: Is it safe?
Relatively speaking, cannabis is pretty safe, especially depending on how you use it. As a drug it is far less addicting than alcohol, and there are no cases of anybody dying from overdose like there are with alcohol. For occasional use, your worst case scenario is a bad trip — which you can alleviate a lot if you do your research on what and how much you are consuming. You'll be far (far) less likely to have a bad trip if you use topical (skin-based) cannabis products like lotions and lubricants, since those will have far less of an impact on you mentally than smoking or consuming cannabis would.
Smoking and vaping will share some similar risks to smoking cigarettes, especially depending on what specifically you are inhaling. As most cannabis products for smoking don't include nicotine like cigarettes do, they generally aren't going to be as bad, but if you have asthma or respiratory issues, you may want to opt to consume cannabis in another way.
Fortunately, especially if you're in a state with legal or medicinal cannabis, there have a number of other ways you can incorporate cannabis without having to inhale. You can use tinctures (droplets you put under your tongue), topicals (lotions and patches), lubricants, and oils that you can mix into food or buy as ready-made snacks.
What will it feel like?
Your experience will ultimately depend on how you use cannabis, the amount you use, the type of plant (if it's more indica or sativa dominant + terpenes involved), and your body's unique chemistry. I can give you a general sense of how different products might feel based on how you use them:
- Smoking or Vaping will be the fastest method to feeling any effect because it's going straight to the brain and bloodstream. Your exact effect will vary depending on the strain of cannabis, the terpenes involved, whether it's more THC or CBD dominant, etc.
- Lubricants and Topicals will usually primarily affect the area of the body where you applied the product. The feeling might spread a bit, and will feel differently depending on whether you use something that is predominantly CBD or THC. This method is less likely to give you head/mental effects than anything else on this list. These will take some time to take effect, sometimes 30 minutes or longer because your body will take its sweet time absorbing the topical. Note: We wrote some dedicated reviews of cannabis lubricants here and CBD lubricants here if you are curious to learn more.
- Ediblesare something you consume so you'll feel an all-over effect. Like topicals these will take longer to kick in because your body is processing it, but you'll generally feel the effects for longer and they tend to feel more substantial. One of my best orgasms was from consuming a microdose (2.5 mg) of a hybrid cannabis mint... See the graph below to see what I mean (particularly the one on the righthand side). It even got covered by Vice... what can I say, it was a newsworthy orgasm, I guess. 😛
- Tinctures tend to be faster than anything edible, especially if you put it under the tongue because your body will process it faster that way. There are a variety of products that you can use in low doses so you can feel a minor effect, or you can have something more substantial if you want to feel a stronger effect.
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Will I get stoned/lose control/etc?
As said, it depends on how you use cannabis, how much you use, and how your body reacts to it. If you try something in very low doses, you can get a sense of what works for you, especially if you're unsure and afraid early on.
Do not go overboard the first time, even if you don't really feel anything at first. Especially with the products that can take some time to kick in (30 min or more), but also with faster methods like smoking or vaping, you might not feel anything at first, and then when the effects kick in, it might kick you in the ass if you keep trying more and more to see if something would happen. Then you run the risk of having a bad trip and not wanting to try it again, which would be sad because a little bit and being patient might have been a lot more beneficial than going overboard.
What would you recommend starting with?
If you want to dabble and are feeling a bit tepid, here's what I recommend (as said, results may vary):
- A topical or lubricant(less likely to get mentally high).
- Low doses (start with the minimum recommended and see how you feel).
- If it were me redoing my first time, I might try something indica-dominant rather than sativa-dominant. Indica is known for being more relaxing, while sativa can be more energetic. While people have preferences and they can be good for different things, indica tends to be more calm and chill.
Curious to learn more about how indica and sativa can make your experience different? Read more about that here.
What if I dohave a bad trip?
Let's say you do go overboard or you don't react well for some reason. If the result is you're having a bad trip, here's what I recommend:
- Sleep it off. As long as you didn't have a ton you probably should start feeling back to normal after a long nap.
- Have a trusted partner or friend present. The one time I did have a bad trip, my partner was a champ at calming me down, talking me through things, turning on a video I liked, and taking care of me (Thank you again and I love you). If you have someone like that you trust, have them present. Especially if you want to have sex with someone you probably will have someone there, but if you're at all uncertain, having someone you trust is golden.
- Have comforting videos or music that's easily accessible. Have those browser tabs open and within reach so you don't really have to think about it much should you need something to calm you down or help you focus on something else.
Hopefully this won't happen especially if you start light and don't go overboard before you know how your body will respond, but just in case, the advice above should hopefully help!
Where would you recommend I go to get stuff?
If you're in a state that has medicinal or legal cannabis, most dispensaries have menus online you can view and "budtenders" who are knowledgeable about their product.
If you want something that is fast and convenient with minimal hassle, Eaze (available in California) and other cannabis delivery companies offers cannabis right to your door.
Explore and enjoy
Used wisely, cannabis can be a great enhancer for sex, anxiety, pain, and more. Hopefully this introduction can help you in your pursuit of pleasure and happiness!
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