Sex, Science and Psychoactives: the Cannadelic 2024 panel

Who was on the panel?

• Heather Reilly Hiemstra, founder of Rockstar Blends and a colon cancer survivor who creates topical botanical products for women.
• Dr. Angela Fisher, founder of Bionic Bloom, with a PhD in human sexual behavior. She joined Heather on GenX Hits Menopause, episode 8.
• Cheryl Moore, a trauma-informed certified hypnotherapist and PCC-credentialed coach who works with Dr. Fisher at Bionic Bloom.
• Adam McKay, a chemist by trade who researches tryptamines and other psychoactive medicines.

Florida Cannabis Coalition founder Tom Quigley moderated, walking the floor with the microphone.

What does the endocannabinoid system have to do with sex?

Heather described the endocannabinoid system as a regulator of body temperature, mood, libido, appetite, sleep and pain, said women carry a high concentration of its receptors in the sexual organs, and called for research into it. Her case is for plant botanicals applied topically, which she said may support the system without being smoked or swallowed.

How do psychoactives relate to intimacy?

Dr. Fisher said people come to her with anxiety, trauma and age-related change. Heather contrasted anesthesia, which lowers awareness, with tryptamines, which raise it. Adam supplied the chemistry: oxytocin, its partner vasopressin, and the serotonin receptors that tryptamines such as DMT and psilocin fit.

Why does oxytocin matter for connection?

Dr. Fisher called the love hormone the sexiest part of that answer. "The connection is the literal difference," she said, between tantra and the sex most people have. She described the best sex as sex without anxiety, and plant medicine at the right dose as one way to lift that veil.

Are terpenes the same for everyone?

No, Heather said: "My terpenes are not your terpenes. What my body needs might not be what your body needs." Cheryl added that healing comes first, including trauma inherited from family and religion, and that intimacy with oneself comes before sharing it with someone else.

How do couples stay connected as desire changes with menopause?

Dr. Fisher's answer: "Two words, curiosity and kindness." Heather added that partners need patience through menopause, that men go through hormonal change too, and that "our needs change, our desires change, and our response pleasure centers change as we age."

What is Heather Reilly Hiemstra's story?

An audience member asked Heather how she brought so raw a topic into a male-dominated industry. Heather answered with her story: colon cancer at 37, a pregnancy she never expected and then a second, declining chemotherapy, and learning that nobody tells women about thinning vaginal walls, painful sex or falling libido in menopause. She spoke about propylene glycol in common lubricants, which she is allergic to, and about Gen X women who will not accept dryness as inevitable.

What did the audience share?

Another audience member came to the mic, unprompted, with a personal testimonial about her experience since meeting Heather at an earlier event. Later questions came from a stage-four cancer survivor who had lost her libido and from a business owner supporting a colleague through menopause after breast cancer. Dr. Fisher said a lost libido can come back, with work on mind, body and spirit; Heather noted that hormones may not suit every cancer patient.

Watch the full panel.

The short films above are moments from the panel. The whole conversation is in the full panel post.

Cannadelic 2024 was presented by Bionic Bloom. The full panel was filmed by Coastal Creative in St. Petersburg and first shared by Cannadelic, and our thanks go to both crews and to Tom Quigley for keeping the room talking.