This article is written in partnership with oHHo—they’re dedicated to improving our health and happiness, with hemp. Not only for their customers but for communities and ecosystems all-too-easily overlooked in the quest for individual well-being. We’re honored to work with them. ~ ed.

It seemed to happen overnight: CBD gave cannabis a public makeover.

In reality, it took years. Years of behind-the-scenes campaigning and research and care for a controversial plant with much apparent healing potential, for both us and the planet. 

THC’s less offensive younger sibling upgraded cannabis from marginal to mainstream. 

Thanks to its non-intoxicating nature (it won’t get you high), CBD is the cannabis that need not confine us to the realms of spacey hippies and college dropouts. It’s cannabis we can go public with, even take home to meet Mom and Dad.

So, here we are in 2021, full steam ahead with appreciating the medical and wellness benefits of cannabis. 

We casually carry bottles of CBD oil around in our handbags, use CBD lube to spice up date night, maybe even smoke THC-free hemp roll-ups to wind down in the evenings. CBD oils are the socially acceptable, risk-free “cannabis lite.” 

CBD may have shifted cannabis from Rated R to a comfortable PG: Parental Guidance is Suggested—some material may not be suitable for children. 

But it’s definitely got a sexy side. Here’s the scoop, via those in the know at oHHo, the cannabis wellness company.

Even after years of working with leaders in this space, they impressed the cannabinoids out of us when we spoke with them recently about the mission behind their organic CBD range. Read on for more on that. Skip to the good bits already, I hear you say.

Sexy Plants: Cannabis as an Aphrodisiac.

Cannasexual: anyone who deliberately combines sex and cannabis to deepen intimacy and enhance pleasure.

Those fringe-dwelling Cannasexuals told us so. And recent science confirms: if you use cannabis, you have more sex.

The Journal of Sexual Medicine published a Stanford study in 2017 researching whether heterosexual cannabis users had more, less or the same amount of sex as non-users. Fifty thousand participants reported an unexpected trend: 

Average sexy-times over 4 weeks:

Non-cannabis partaking women: 6 times

Cannabis partaking women: 7.1 times

Non-cannabis partaking men: 5.6 times

Cannabis partaking men: 6.9 times

The clinical implications put it right out there “Marijuana use is independently associated with increased sexual frequency and does not appear to impair sexual function”

There is no clinical trial that confirms these findings. Consider the following anecdotal:

Get oHHo’s Sexy Plants Kit, an exclusive offer to Elephant readers >>

In India, cannabis has been used in ancient Ayurvedic medicine for a myriad of conditions, including increasing sexual performance and pleasure. This was confirmed by the 1979 cannabis using Health Sciences college demographic who, when surveyed, absolutely agreed that the plant can improve orgasms and should be classified as an aphrodisiac. 

The results from a similar study in 1984 came to the same conclusions; cannabis use enhances sexual pleasure, increases sexual desire, and, interestingly, increases the desire for a familiar sexual partner.

Does CBD have a Similar Sex-Appeal? Here’s what Science Says.

A 1936 movie poster. (Getty Images) The propaganda of movies such as Reefer Madness might actually have been rooted in truth, a warped interpretation of the ability for the cannabis plant to increase feelings of arousal.

Pleasure of any kind (derived from eating, physical exercise, sex, social interaction) is caused by the release of serotonin and dopamine. Another integral aspect of this pleasure-reward feedback loop is the production of endocannabinoids. 

Endocannabinoids, and therefore cannabis compounds, affect our serotonin and dopamine centers. CBD, like THC, stimulates the cannabinoid receptors in the basal forebrain, which is the pleasure dome of the whole body. This increase in the feeling of well-being and happiness as a result of using cannabinoids undoubtedly unlocks more feelings of arousal.

Sexual arousal increases the release of endocannabinoids so adding plant cannabinoids to our system increases this arousal we feel. More arousal = prolonged and more satisfying orgasms.

Add to this the ability for high CBD cannabis strains to lessen anxiety (a significant hurdle to great sex) and increase our feelings of relaxation and well-being, and we seem to have a good recipe cooking…

With effects that range from energizing to relaxing:
Pick your Puff for 20% off with code EJ20 >>

“Start Low, Go Slow.” oHHo‘s motto for CBD dosing is equally applicable when it comes to bringing any variant of cannabis into the bedroom. Find that Goldilocks zone—not too little, not too much—when it comes to incorporating cannabis or CBD into your sex life.

Before you Stock Up on Sexy Plants, a Warning:

Every boon has an underbelly: the potential for exploitation, for commercial interests over social responsibility and environmental integrity. It’s no different with CBD and the cannabis-based wellness industry that sprung up around it.

As CBD’s star rose, so did the number of self-declared gurus. Soon, every wellness blogger, social influencer, plant-medicine-loving biohacker, and their great aunty was punting whichever flashy new “cannabis lite” lifestyle brand paid the biggest cheque.

At Elephant, we’re a little pickier about who we work with. So we’ve been honored to partner with many of the original cannabis-based wellness pioneers, the ones who staked everything on this plant before it was cool again.

Over time, we’ve learned our shit from our damn good shit. We’re not talking highs here, we’re talking eco, ethical, and social fundamentals.

The 3 Fundamentals of Real Good CBD:

1. Genuine eco-responsibility; not just performative greenwashing.
2. Mission-driven ethics; not just the corporate red curtain of PR and clever branding.
3. Commitment to social justice; not just posting a black square on Insta that one day.

Each region brings unique flavor profiles & benefits:
Choose your Vintage for 20% off with code EJ20 >>

Hemp is an extremely versatile, robust, and beneficial plant. It has shown considerable economic and societal benefits to people and communities, historically. It also shows encouraging potential to address significant environmental concerns, today.

Not only does it actually nurture and feed the soil rather than deplete it, but the strength, versatility, and lightness of hemp can actually provide a real alternative to steel and plastics made from petrochemicals.

However, we have to treat it right. Otherwise, we’re just reinventing the corn industry and adding wellness PR.

So, whether our needs are sexy or just sanity-supporting, we as CBD consumers have a responsibility to look further than a pretty label and a few buzzwords.

The hemp-loving folks at oHHo go further than most:

1. Their oils, balms, edibles, pre-rolls, and kits are 100% full spectrum (using the whole plant, as nature intended, versus chemically isolating the CBD alone). 
2. They avoid Big Ag by sourcing only from independent farming communities in the U.S.A. with a sustainable, small-batch model.
3. They go above and beyond with testing to ensure really high potency and total purity.

Does your CBD Oil come with a side of Social Justice? These do >>

Demand Justice: “Women belong with their families and not behind bars.”

In their latest social justice project, oHHo has teamed up to support the work of the WPA (Women’s Prison Association) to raise funds for and awareness around women at all stages of the criminal justice system.

There are 220,000 women in the U.S. prison system. Black women are almost twice as likely and Latinas are more than 20 percent more likely to be incarcerated than white women.

As an ethical business, oHHo is focused on ameliorating the society which fosters them. They believe that if they are able to profit off of the legal cannabis industry, they must also work to release and rebuild the lives of those who have suffered from cannabis criminalization. 

WPA Arts is a program aimed at cultivating safe spaces where women can find sisterhood, relief, and liberation as they reflect on their personal experiences and connect to their inner artist. 

Their mission with this project is to raise $20,000 by using artworks by women in the WPA Arts programs, as well as outside artists, to create a line of limited edition labels for their New York oil, supplemented with a postcard and limited edition merchandise featuring their hero image, created by the artist/advocate Sage Adams.

The funds raised from the sale of these products will be enough to provide one woman with the tools to build the life they want for themself and their family through alternative-to-incarceration programs offered by the WPA.

Will your next bottle of CBD oil help provide one woman with the tools to build the life she wants for herself and her family? These will >>

The organic hemp their products are made from is sourced in small batches from independent farming communities in the U.S. In their mission to make CBD simpler and more transparent, they distinguish them not by their strength, but by the area from which their hemp-of-origin hails. 

Like a fine wine or a good coffee, each oHHo Full Spectrum CBD Oil has a unique terpene and flavor profile true to the region of its appellation. Think Woody, Hoppy, Sweet for New York and Citrus, Floral, Chocolate for Vermont.

oHHo is one of the few brands in the cannabis space that are actively committed to an equitable future, and who work to support reform and social justice for those who have been disproportionately affected by Prohibition.

And, if you ask me, there’s nothing sexier than social justice. Now, pass the CBD!