Folks, I’m going to have to start adding new stuff to my bucket list. Because I’m ticking off a lot of my writerly goals these days. Case in point: My first article (there’s another on the way) was published over the weekend at Rolling Stone!
For this piece, I took a long look at the crossover between two stigmatized but incredibly popular industries: cannabis and porn! I’m a pretty firm believer in the power of both weed and smut to make life better for lots of people. But does anyone else agree? Turns out that, yes, they do:
“Cannabis is really about helping you eliminate the things that are getting in the way of getting turned on,” [Ashley Manta, sex and cannabis coach] says. “[Things like] stress, pain, anxiety, being stuck in your head, not feeling pleasurable sensations as readily in your body. And those cannabis can help with.”
For porn performers, whose jobs require them to be relaxed, present, and very much aware of their bodies, marijuana is almost a foregone conclusion. “Instead of being stressed out, dealing with crazy traffic, trying to get to set, with everything going on, it just kind of mellows me out,” says [adult performer Richelle] Ryan. And, she adds, “I’ve noticed that when I’m more relaxed, I have better orgasms.”
I was super fortunate and even more excited to talk to a fantastic group of individuals with expertise in these areas! Big thanks go out to Ashley Manta, Kristel Penn, Fivestar, Kendra Sunderland, Ela Darling, Richelle Ryan, Vicki Chase, and Mia Little for their help!