Andrew Mieure is the owner of Top Shelf Budtending which aims to provide an elegant, safe and responsible cannabis experience for event guests.

 

In this interview Andrew delves into the cannabis dating world, offering advice and sharing his own experiences.

I suffer from a lot of anxiety, so cannabis helps me mainly in that aspect of dating. When you’re out dating or seeing new people it’s a lot easier to approach when you are medicated, but it can also go the other way. If you’re too medicated it can cause anxiety.

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When you go on dates do you smoke before you go to curb your anxieties?

For me a lot of it comes down to set and setting. If it’s at my own place or in more of a private environment I think it would be wise to use cannabis. But it also depends. If I’m going to a bar or a more public place, that’s when I tend to have the most anxiety. If I have the wrong strain at the wrong time in the wrong place, it can actually make it worse.

So what are those strains that you don’t like?

For me, it’s the terpine lemonine. Any of those lemon scents or pine scents is what cause me to have anxiety. So I’ve known that and just really high THC varieties can cause that influx of anxiety. For when you’re meeting someone for the first time, my best advice is always using a 1:1 [a one-to-one ratio of THC and CBD]. That will be a good balance of getting your mind in the right state and then having that CBD to help calm you down. The THC puts you into a different mental state and calms you as far as your racing mind. Then the equal amount of CBD is going to take the edge off that THC. So it’s a more calming experience overall. We’re starting to find more that the terpine profile or scents of cannabis are starting to affect people more so than just names of strains or simply just THC levels. High THC can definitely cause anxiety, but high THC coupled the wrong smell profiles for your body can really start to cause some issues.

When dating, do you look for people who consume cannabis?

Living in Colorado it’s a lot easier to bring up the conversation of cannabis. We’re fortunate enough to live in a place where it’s legal and a lot of people are in the industry here. So you can meet a lot of people that way at industry events and things like that. If it’s somebody that I don’t know they usually get to the point where they ask, “What do you do for a living?” and I have a business in the cannabis industry. So a lot of the times you have to tell them, you can’t lie about that. You tell them and their either cool with it and want to move forward or their not and it just goes from there. If they’re not into it and don’t partake, it’s not a game changer for me. It’s not that big of a deal. If they don’t partake, they don’t partake. But they can’t really impose their beliefs on me do to the lifestyle I live as far as my business and what I do in the industry. If they’re wanting to impose their beliefs on me about being anti-cannabis I wouldn’t move forward with that. If they’re alright with it I can deal with that. That’s not a problem.

Do you ever meet someone on a first date that is completely turned off by you using cannabis?

Usually most people look online before they meet people. I don’t hide what I do, so it’s usually never a problem. There have been times when people just don’t know or I meet out at a place and I tell them about it and they end up standoffish in a way and it just doesn’t go anywhere. The conversation kind of halts and you don’t really have much to talk about. There’s a ton of different things that I’m into. It’s not just cannabis. I’m not just a one sided person, but it’s such a big part of my life now that that would have to be a requirement as far as anything long term. But as far as short term standard dating it’s not a game breaker for me. It might be for some people though.

What would be your cannabis-related date night?

I think the coolest thing to do, for me, because I provide consultations services as it is - I shop with people already - it would be sweet to take somebody into a dispensary and educate them about it. If they’re in the industry or don’t already need that education we can pick out something that we can find both mutually enjoyable. Pick out a nice strain that would meet both of our requirements. We could use that either towards the middle of the day or the end depending on when the smoking occurs because you obviously can’t smoke in public or anything. As far as activities go I’m personally into video games, movies, things like that. So that’s right up my ally. It would be really sweet to get high and go ice-skating or something, but now since it’s starting to get warm out, Colorado’s too beautiful. Smoking down a bit and then going hiking is always a good time. Seeing something beautiful. 

How does cannabis affect your sex life?

I worked with Cannasexual’s Ashley Manta on an article based on curbing anxieties of having sex with someone for the first time. We came to the conclusion that a 1:1 would be your best bet because it’s not going to get you anxious, but it will chill you out enough. And there are some people that just want to be so stoned that their anxiety is completely gone and they have no idea what’s going on. You can run into issues with not being able to get it up or for women, not being into it as much. You’ve got to be really careful about how much you consume. I think with sex drive and everything related to that, the main thing is dosage. Whatever strain you pick, don’t have too much because that can have an effect on some people’s blood pressure. For other people it can affect their anxiety and their mental state and they might not be into it as much as they would be normally. But it can also help those things. Like, if your mind is scattered all the time, you can smoke and get centered on that one thing and you’re ready to go. It can really help. But it all just depends on the person and you really have to know yourself. For me specifically, it’s just trying to get rid of the anxiety, and that’s all it’s ever been for me. For me it’s just low dose. If you want it to last for a while throughout an encounter, maybe even a low dose edible like 5mg. Eat that probably 20-30 minutes before you hang out and it can kind of take the edge off without being too much. But edibles last so long, 4-6 hours, it’ll go through the entire encounter. Either that or smoke right before because smoking’s usually about 60 minutes or so until you start tapering down. But it all depends on the person.

Do you have a story that sticks out in your mind about dating and cannabis?

I was starting to talk with a girl that runs a cabaret service. She’s like, “Come to this party! It’s going to be sweet.” I had no idea what it was, it was like $10 to get it, membership. So I go up to this party in Boulder and I walk in and there are naked girls everywhere. I’m like, “Alright, cool.” She comes running up to me like, “I’m so excited to meet you!” So the first time I meet her is when she is performing at this cabaret show. Super cool girl, really awesome, super good person. I didn’t really know she was into cannabis at the time, but she was super into my business and wanted to work together. So, we’re still working things out with getting some events going, but it’s just crazy some of the paths that being associated with a more liberal substance will take you down. Because there more people who are into free sexual movements or cabaret & burlesque. A lot of these things kind of parallel one another. So, when you’re into cannabis and you’re in this industry you’re going to start meeting a lot more like-minded people. But my first encounter with a lady was at her cabaret show, and I saw everything.

Do you have any words of wisdom for people looking to involve cannabis in their romantic relationships?

I always recommend: be mindful of your dose, be mindful of your set and your setting. Make sure you’re not smoking to impress somebody. If you don’t feel comfortable with it, make sure to let somebody know. There are times when I legitimately don’t like smoking in public. I’m more of a sit-at-home, get really stoned and watch cartoons kind of guy. But for other people, make sure you know how a strain is going to affect you. Journal if you can, to make sure that you don’t smoke a type of terpine profile that would put you in the couch or make you sleepy on a first date. I really think the best middle ground is something medium potency and something that you enjoy. If it’s with another stoner, find something that you’re both into. You can always ask what strains they like or go shop before hand so you can both enjoy the smell profiles, the taste profiles of that strain. That always makes the first date a little less nerve-racking, especially if you know you’re hanging out with a stoner. You can always ask her questions like, “What is your favorite variety or smells?” Bring a jar with you of something you got at a dispensary that just blew your mind and open it up. Have it be a really good icebreaker. Kind of describe what you’re smelling between one another. Or bring a jar of joints and dump them out on the table or something. Cannabis always makes an impression no matter what.