Canna Buy Me Love: The Connection Between Sex, Media and Cannabis Through the Eyes of a Nevada Sex Worker, a Cam Model and a Canna-Influencer 

The oldest adages are often the most poignant, and nothing is more accurate (or historically relevant) than “sex sells”.  The “world’s oldest profession”, the exchange of sex for power or money, the release of intimate inhibitions, the smoke and mirrors of media, all still apply in today’s society.  As we explore the similarities between sex, humanity and the cannabis industry in a recreationally legalized state, Nevada as a backdrop provides a unique look behind the scenes of two industries with so many of the same trials, tribulations and obstacles: the sex industry and the cannabis industry.  

In the name of variety and fairness, we set out to talk to the most experienced workers within various facets of the sex industry in order to find out their stance on cannabis and how it might enhance their work and their lives.  For the sake of February, we also opted to add in a few juicy tidbits on how to spice up your Valentine’s Day with infused ideas from the advice of these sexperts and social media mavens. While all is not always fair in love and war, when it comes to love and cannabis, it’s a level (and legalized) playing field! 

An adult actress and reality TV personality who has recently moved into the canna-space as a social media influencer, Mari Possa is no novice when it comes to the art of smoke and sex: 

Jennifer Walker:  As an influencer in the canna-space, what do you find to be the biggest rewards? Biggest challenges?

Mari Possa: To be honest, this is my first experience in the canna-space although I smoked on camera in many of my movies. I believe that being bilingual and promoting in both English and Spanish makes my influence all the more effective. I’m excited about working with CannaMojo and am loving promoting their products.  As for the reward, it feels good anytime I can introduce someone to a product that they enjoy or find useful. Speaking of feeling good, I also got to have a lot of hot sex making sure the product worked before I would agree to promote it! Being a “pornstar” makes it challenging enough to walk the constantly shifting line of what’s acceptable on any of the major social media platforms, adding cannabis to the content I post doesn’t help. I literally breathe a sigh of relief every morning I wake up to find my pages still exist.  

JW: The cannabis industry can definitely relate to that! Are you a cannabis user in your personal life, and if so, what is your favorite way to consume?  

MP:  Yes, I like smoking bongs, joints or vaping best.

JW: Are you a sativa, hybrid or indica type of person? 

MP: I prefer sativa during the day or before sex. Indica when I want to sleep well or be a couch potato.

JW:  What similarities do you find between the sex industry and the cannabis industry?  

MP: Both are seen as “rogue” industries with plenty of negative stigma attached. Ultimately, the medicinal benefits of cannabis will help it overcome much of the negativity over time, but I’m afraid there is no such hope for the sex industry.

JW:  Do you currently have any favorite cannabis products? 

MP: I love my Storz & Bickel Mighty Vaporizer

JW: As an influencer, how important is it to keep a positive public image on social media? 

MP: Very important. I’m sure many would find this hypocritical, but it’s always been important to me even when making movies. I would never be involved in scenes that I felt were misogynistic or degrading. My scenes were about having pleasurable sex with consenting adults. Keeping it positive on social media is the only way to approach it for me. I like my drama and negativity in small doses…preferably from Housewives of New Jersey or Dallas!

JW:  What is your favorite thing about Las Vegas? 

MP: It is almost the perfect destination. Anytime of day or night you can find something fun to do or delicious to eat. Once the casinos come around on marijuana, it will be perfect.

FOLLOW MARI POSSA:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theemaripossa

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themaripossa/

 

A few scenic hours north of Las Vegas, Carson City, NV is home to several state treasures: the state capitol, historical museums, ghost towns, old mining areas, and of course, brothels.  Prostitution is only legal in certain areas of Nevada, and like the cannabis industry, is rife with stigmas and regulations. The Cannabis Courtesan, Alice Little, is the highest-earning legal sex worker in the United States, and a huge advocate of cannabis.  As she fights for more open regulations regarding cannabis consumption in brothels (and beyond) we took some time to chat with her about being a sex worker and how cannabis supports her cause. 

Jennifer Walker:  Do you think that cannabis hinders or enhances sexual response and arousal?

Alice Little: By and large, cannabis definitely enhances the experience in the sense that it makes every single sensation stand out that much more. The beauty of cannabis is that there are so many different strains and so many different ways that you can consume it that you can really experiment and try to find which method works best for you and your body. Smoking flower, edibles and even things like CBD lube are great for sex…

JW: In your opinion, does CBD lube work for or against the body if say, you are someone who experiences pain during sex (as example)… 

AL: There’s so many different things that CBD and cannabis are able to do for your physiobiology whether it be decreasing anxiety, lowering pain, and often times the reason that people feel pain during sex is coming from an emotional place- the whole mind/body connection. When you incorporate CBD and cannabis into your experiences, it brings the whole anxiety threshold down so you’re better able to focus on the intimate connection with the other person instead of being stuck in your own head. 

JW: Do you find (with your work) that you encounter clients with disabilities or conditions where cannabis can be useful?

AL: At least on a weekly basis I think to myself, it’s a real shame that the legalization isn’t there on a larger scale to support that because a lot of guests come in with E.D. conditions, anxiety conditions, and the reality is that cannabis is a lovely way to be able to address some of those concerns without necessarily causing long term lasting effects like traditional medication would. You can dose appropriately and spot treat issues as needed, which is wonderful.

JW: I agree, and something to consider while living in a social climate which caters to the service industry (alcohol consumption) can hinder connection and sexual performance…

AL: It’s true.  “Whiskey dick” isn’t just a phrase, it’s a real thing! If you think that doing three shots at the bar to calm your nerves is going to enhance your experience, you’re going to be very sadly mistaken and more often than not it’s going to affect your ability to perform! 

JW: Are there dispensaries close to the area where you live and work?

AL: Yes, the closest one is within a 15-20 minute drive.  

JW: A best case scenario would be your clients coming in and allowing you to assist with cannabis recommendations such as strains and products that they can use, which would be fantastic…

AL: Absolutely!  I partnered up with a company called “CBD Sugar” that makes a CBD-infused lubricant which is water based, condom safe and customers are able to purchase online and have it discreetly shipped to their door.  So a great option for some guests who may be uncomfortable walking into a dispensary and purchasing products. Clients who have tried the “Passion Personal Lubricant” report that sensations are a little bit more heightened because their mental anxiety isn’t clouding their experience as much; it frees the mind to be more connected to the body and receptive to those sensations.

JW: Have you ever encountered a situation where cannabis has had a negative effect on someone’s sexual experience?

AL: I really haven’t.  Cannabis isn’t going to stop someone from achieving erection, having an orgasm or become physically sick, whereas with alcohol, the overindulgence can not only affect your sex life but there can also be some severe medical complications to consider, as well. Alcohol poisoning is real!

JW: In Nevada especially, there can be this stigma regarding alcohol and partying and just the accessibility to alcohol makes it a real concern for locals, tourists, travelers and anyone who’s concerned about DUI or overindulgence.  

AL:  For sure! To that point I should mention that I am an avid cannabis supporter, I have a medical card and I’m very open about my cannabis consumption with guests and within my personal life, as well. I’m an advocate for cannabis usage and often will openly discuss my beliefs and preferences with my guests at the Bunny Ranch.  I generally suggest low dose edibles to anyone who might be interested in trying cannabis on their own terms. Edibles are a great way to become acquainted with cannabis, because the products are specifically dosed out for you, so it takes the guesswork out of how much and how often to consume. I recommend trying cannabis products on your own first, maybe at night when you don’t have anywhere else to go and you can ease into the experience (I certainly don’t suggest taking edibles and driving)… 

JW: Has cannabis touched your life in any other ways?

AL: Yes, one of my younger cousins was one of the first cannabis refugees to Colorado when the discovery of CBD oil for seizure conditions was first really being revealed. She was severely disabled, we’re talking strapped to a wheelchair, having to wear a helmet for her own safety due to having anywhere from 50-150 seizures per day.  Since her family started using CBD oil to treat her condition, she’s thrived and flourished in the most beautiful way! She is free from her mobility device, she’s running and playing…it’s really been incredible.

JW: We see and talk to a lot of people who have been touched in some way by opioid addiction and who have benefited from making the transition to cannabis…

AL: Absolutely!  I connect with guests all of the time who are suffering from issues like E.D., heart conditions and other medical conditions where, they can’t just take the “little blue pill” to combat their E.D.- and especially if they are taking heavy doses of pain medications and/or opioids, it affects their performance and sexual health.  CBD and cannabis ends up being this kind of beautiful option because it does make a real difference and often it helps people get out of their own heads and achieve erection when they otherwise weren’t able to. It’s a great thing!

JW: What are some of your favorite ways to consume cannabis for a special sexual or intimate experience?

AL: What you can do is use some of the CBD or cannabis-infused chocolate and a double boiler to melt it down and create a chocolate fondue. You can then get some fresh fruit, marshmallows, gummy candies, and dip into the chocolate and feed it to your partner.  You can also get a paintbrush and dip it into the chocolate and use the paintbrush to paint across your partner and then use your mouth for the cleanup. Adding CBD or THC to this experience builds the effects and makes it a very pleasurable experience. Any kind of infused foods are so much fun- it’s personalized and it creates an experience for you and your partner to enjoy. 

JW: Since cannabis consumption is not (yet) legal in brothels, how do you prepare your guests who are interested in using cannabis when they are coming to meet you?

AL: Any time my guests discuss CBD or THC, I do let them know that it’s not legal within the brothel space.  I use these opportunities as a way to open up the conversation about, how do we change these policies? How do we make this more accessible? I actually do encourage them to reach out to the local legislators and encourage them to contact them.  I enable my guests to also be advocates for this cause. I’ve always felt that the cannabis industry and the sex industry often times are sister industries in the sense that, we face a lot of stigma. We face difficulties with banking regulations, we’re legal at a state level instead of a federal level and as such, there’s a lot of parallels. When I was researching how to be a better advocate for the sex industry, a number of cannabis activists stepped forward and helped me with resources and information and now that I’ve expanded into this “Cannabis Courtesan” journey being an advocate for legalized use within the brothel space, they (cannabis activists) have been nothing but wonderful allies and supportive. This is something that I personally represent.  Somebody has to be the first one to stand up and say, “hey! I think this would be a great idea!” And it’s something that would be so uniquely Nevadan, I think it’s a shame that we haven’t yet progressed forward in that direction. 

JW: I love the idea also of yours being a female-lead movement for change…

AL:  Absolutely.  Cannabis enhances the intimacy, the connection and the communication, all in one. 

FOLLOW ALICE LITTLE:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAliceLittle/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thealicelittleofficial/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMl6gE-PPKdjIWgJaNlvK3w/featured

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAliceLittle/

 

Since the late 1990’s, hoards of fans, fiends and performers have flocked to Las Vegas, Nevada to celebrate the adult industry.  Over the past few years, the AVN expo has subtly welcomed vendors and lovers of certain cannabis and CBD products, specifically those geared toward sex and relaxation.  Taking a break from the chaos on the expo floor, we sat down with cam model and pornstar Allie Eve Knox who has not only made a small fortune in Bitcoin, but is a huge advocate for the use of cannabis.   

Jennifer Walker: I was happy to hear that you like cannabis…

Allie Eve Knox: Yes, I am very openly a stoner!

JW: Are you a Nevadan?  If not, what is your experience with cannabis in the area where you live?

AK: I’m from Texas.  I work in Los Angeles and come to Vegas for work too, but I live in an area of Texas (Austin).  They’ve decriminalized cannabis in the city (where I live) for small amounts, so they just ticket you and let you go. In some cases, they don’t even ticket you.  I’ve been downtown smoking a blunt, and they just told me, “put it out”, and let me go. 

JW: Wow, that’s surprising to hear! Especially in Texas…

AK: At the end of the day, we have a jail that’s overpopulated and they really can’t afford to put the people through the system who are caught with these minimal amounts of weed, so it’s easier to just let them go. 

JW: Give us a little back story on yourself, your work and some of your experience with cannabis…

AK: I was born in Texas and moved to Atlanta for school and then went back to Texas because my family is there. I travel to Los Angeles each month for SpankChain stuff, attending events and meetings, so I’m in California all the time. I shoot content out of my house and then I travel with a bunch of women about one week each month and we shoot content together. At home I live with my brother and my husband and a bunch of pets.  We had a dog who was diagnosed with cancer and we were treating her with cannabis. She was supposed to live for 3 months and ended up living for 14 months, so the cannabis definitely helped! We were using the dog drops from Select and they really helped her. 

JW:  Speaking of CBD and products, specifically those sold online, I was thinking about the parallel between what you do with camming and online sex work being considerd “high risk” just as cannabis and related business matters have been labeled “high risk”…  

AK:  Cannabis is just as unbankable as we are!  And in my world, Crypto plus “adult” means, we’re very f**ked!  We’re getting it literally from every end. The PayPal, the Stripe, the Venmo…all the same things that shun cannabis credit processing and banking, all the same things don’t want us either. So I subverted the system and went into Crypto because at the time I was working via a cam site and they were taking 50% and I was basically driving traffic to their site. I started taking Bitcoin and was able to scan payment through the camera while I was camming.  It changed my life!

JW: Also regarding social media and general censorship within your industry, so it is within the cannabis online space, as well.  Keywords, marketing, tags…accounts get shut down on certain platforms, etc. You have to be really careful. 

AK: We are constantly censored for things!  On various platforms, it’s a constant battle to stay relevant and stay out of trouble. 

JW: There are so many societal and social concerns within the sex industry and it’s no different than with cannabis- essentially sex and cannabis are ways to help people and enrich their lives and there’s judgment and roadblocks everywhere…

AK:  All of these preconceived notions are heavy and dark and keep us down.  

JW: Sex is wellness as it pertains to people’s emotional, mental and even physical issues…

AK: Absolutely, there’s a lot of healing involved, for everyone.  Truthfully, I’m very business focused, for sure. Even in my personal life I’ve found that being a sex worker has helped me communicate better, be more honest, I’m able to read people more easily, and some of what I do can help heal people in a way. I didn’t realize this until I was in the industry for a few years when people started requesting customs (a video just for them where they can write a script and I enact it). I was meeting people who were requesting unusual things.  And they’d say, “I’ve gone years without being able to have anyone take this strange fetish and do something for me”…and sometimes fulfilling these fantasies and requests for people leads them to be able to get over traumas from their past or get over a hurdle in their lives.  

JW: In many ways there’s a social openness and freedom here that is implied and applied to sex as well as (now) cannabis. Have you ever thought about incorporating cannabis into the work that you’re doing with camming or modeling?

AK:  I do!  I do a lot of pot smoking videos because I just really like to smoke pot and I thought, I should monetize this somehow, and people really like it. I would go into certain cam sessions and I have had guys be like, “let’s just smoke some pot” and I’m like, nice! I always do a pot smoking video when I turn the camera on anyway because I’m going to get stoned, so I may as well. 

JW:  Does your cannabis consumption while working enhance your work or hinder it in any way?

AK:  Well, it depends on how stoned I get.  I mean, it can go the other way (if I overdo it) and then next thing you know you’re laying in the CBD bath trying to come back (laughs)…so it’s a balance. With me, the only thing that can happen from time to time is I go off on a tangent.  I’ll be smoking and then ten minutes later I’m like, wait, this wasn’t even the point of the video…

JW:  Do you have any human contact in your videos?

AK:  Sometimes in the past I have, the majority of the time I don’t do sex stuff, I do mostly fetish stuff.  I love smoking videos, eating videos, those are fun! 

JW: Are you more of an indica, a hybrid or a sativa type of gal?

AK: I’m sativa! I’ve got s*it to do! I’m a fire sign, I’m a Sagittarius…I’m very driven.

JW: What are your favorite ways to consume cannabis, both in your work and in your social life?

AK: It’s funny you ask it that way because my social life is really my work. Most of my friends are sex workers and we just have cannabis in our lives, that’s just how it is. I smoke a lot of flower when I’m at the house, I prefer bongs, pipes, bubblers, etc.  But I have to smoke oil when I travel because the majority of the time I’m in a hotel room or an AirBnb or some place where I can’t be conspicuous so I have to go with a vape pen. Weirdly, I find that if I go two weeks without flower and just use cannabis oil vape pens, my depression gets insane.

JW: Really?

AK:  Yea, I found that from over the past two years of traveling and trial and error.  So I have to be really careful.  

JW:  Have you ever tried vaping flower?

AK:  Yea, like The Volcano?  Those are pretty great, but that’s blast-off time for me.  I mean, I’ve got emails to do, I need to stay focused during work hours.  I used to be more regimented about cannabis, when I was in Grad school, I’d purposely not smoke until later in the day, but over time, I’ve become more into consumption throughout the day but in smaller doses.  If I’m awake, I’m consuming. But I’m able to maintain. Now that I live stoned, nothing is hard, I’m used to it.

JW:  Have you ever tried cannabis suppositories?

AK:  I have actually, Foria.  They also have this spray that you can use for sex…do it, do it, do it, do it! (laughs) It’s great!  

JW:  Are you careful to not give away the secrets to your success to others?  Unfortunately, sometimes with success comes stress and paranoia…

AK:  Here’s the thing about sex work, we share our trade secrets with each other, we support each other and we talk shop. We do all of that.  It’s the only industry I’ve ever been in where women sit around and help each other. You might even find this in the cannabis industry, but, as a marginalized group, we’re so cast out. So we had to turn inward.  We had to turn to one another. It really just bonded us and made us stronger. Since I’ve been in sex work and even before when I was in “pre” sex work, I felt that same support- the women were all there for each other and gave encouragement.  

FOLLOW ALLIE EVE KNOX:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allieeveknox/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/allieeveknox/

 Web: AllieKnox.com, Spankchain.com