Don’t mistake modern weed smokers for their lazy, media-driven stereotype. Marijuana culture has come a long way since the free-lovin’ 1970s and the sketchy driveway drug deals flashed on the Hollywood big screen.
Cannabis has crashed through the glass ceiling and is busting stigmas as fast as the mainstream world can throw them. Sound familiar, pleasure pioneers?
Even if you’re not selling ‘flower’ you can still capitalize on ancillary product sales that partner with your consumers’ love of stoned sex.
This popular plant is now the brainchild behind some of Silicon Valley’s biggest investments, and every hipster CEO and progressive company president (well, almost!) is pocketing a vape pen next to their American Express Centurion card.
It might take a few million to turn your adult boutique into a licensed dispensary — and that’s if selling green is even legal in your state — but there’s nothing stopping pleasure businesses from piggybacking on the big marijuana boom with CBD, hemp products and 420-styled toys and accessories.
If you’ve been holding back from adding pot-themed products to your line-up, it’s time for another look at this increasingly dynamic category and how it can drive business with tomorrow’s young movers and shakers.
Outdated stoner stereotypes are as old as Cheech and Chong
What retail manager hasn’t rolled their eyes when a group of hoodie-wearing, red-eyed, dazed and confused stoners roll through the doors? Sex shops have long been associated with drawing the penniless pothead crowd, but don’t let that stop you from stocking your shelves with 420-themed products. Today’s modern cannabis users are more tech-geeky and entrepreneurial than unemployed and broke.
Much like the sex toy industry, the marijuana space is re-branding itself as a classy haven of health and wellness. Your 18-to-20-something consumers will probably just laugh at those gag gift pot leaf hats and cheap plastic necklaces of yesteryear.
Skip the tie-dye t-shirts and the Bob Marley bobble head dolls. Modern marijuana enthusiasts are a far cry from 1990s mall stoners. Today’s youth and millennials are more interested in products that deliver results in high-end packaging like hemp seed massage oils, CBD lubricants, and herbal bath bombs.
Sex and cannabis is riding an all-time consumer high
From cannabis-focused sexperts like Ashley Manta, a speaker and educator who actually teaches folks how to mindfully combine sex and cannabis, to companies like Foria that are pioneering THC and CBD into period pain relief and enhanced sexual pleasure, the facts are staring the sex toy industry straight in the face. Cannabis is officially big business!
If you’ve ever imbibed alongside a partner or for a solo bedroom session, you already know why cannabis and sex go so wonderfully hand-in-hand. But here’s some of the science behind the trend. THC, the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana responsible for creating the “high” feeling, is a vasodilator, meaning it opens up your blood vessels. Dilated blood vessels mean more blood can rush into your body parts, increasing sensitivity and thus, increasing sensations. In short, your customers can expect better orgasms.
CBD, a non-psychoactive chemical in marijuana, meaning it doesn’t get you high, has also been hailed as an anxiety reducer and natural muscle relaxer, making painful sex a thing of the past and even helping victims of sexual trauma to work through physical and mental blockages.
With a little help from weed science, marijuana is moving into a role similar to that of sex education and the prioritization of pleasure. Just like sex toys and sexual exploration, there are myriad ways to use cannabis, all of which are focused on creating happier, healthier humans.
Orgasmic accessories and Mary Jane have an important common denominator
Could it be a coincidence that both pleasure product and marijuana wellness enthusiasts are mainly women? We think not!
According to BDS Analytics in an article by 48North Cannabis Corp, the company found several reasons that turn women on to the consumer cannabis space. Out of 1,000 women surveyed, 27 percent consumed cannabis to enhance their sex lives; 39 percent used cannabis to provide relief from premenstrual cramps; and 35 percent of menopausal women consumed cannabis to improve sleep.
The study also concluded that women are responsible for the majority of household spending, including 70 to 80 percent of the budget, in the U.S.
Considering women lead the charge in which toys are brought into the bedroom, it would be a foolishly missed opportunity not to reach out to female sex toy consumers with ancillary cannabis products to complement their sexual self-care routine.
You’re set to turn a better profit than the local weed dealer
No, you’re not just baked imagining those dreamy sales numbers. CBInsights.com predicted that consumers will spend a forecasted $32 billion on cannabis by 2020. It further reported that at least 23 unique sectors, including cryptocurrency, medical and pharmaceuticals, and the tourism industry have all been seizing the opportunity to join this burgeoning market.
According to the report, the wellness sector is mainly cashing in with CBD oil products, like body lotions for pain and stress relief. Within the pleasure sector, that also translates to topical oils that are safe for use on the vulva and clitoris, massage and bath oils for foreplay, and herbal lubricants created for insertion. Even if you’re not selling “flower” you can still capitalize on ancillary product sales that partner with your consumers’ love of stoned sex.
If you can’t sell cannabis flower, you can sell the next best thing
Medical marijuana is legal across much of the U.S., and recreational use laws aren’t far behind. We’ve yet to see the country’s first dual pot/sex shop, though it seems likely to happen in our lifetime.
Until then, there are enough cannabis-related products to fill an entire adult boutique with CBD and hemp goodies alone. Our team at Maia Toys even found a way to get our feet in the green door. Instead of diving into the lube niche, we stuck to what we know and love — vibrators!
Maia’s contribution to the weed space is a bullet vibe we call the Jessie 420. This little emerald green toy comes in two cannabis-friendly patterns and picks up where the topical CBD oil leaves off.
In conclusion, sex and cannabis aren’t just the next big thing — they’re the big thing right now and for the foreseeable future in the sexual wellness space. Opt for some weed-themed vibrators, infused bath products, and orgasm-enhancing CBD goodies on your next order and watch your sales soar.
Zach Smith is the brand ambassador of Maia Toys.
