Now, cannabis has now reached the frontier that is final of entertainment: dating apps. Billed as “Tinder for tokers” and “the Cupids of cannabis,” a recently available spate of dating apps have actually utilized cannabis’s main-stream mania to supply singles in L.A.’s oft-disheartening dating scene a hassle-free way to a partner that is 420-friendly.

Being an L.A.-based solitary girl and casual cannabis individual, I happened to be fascinated: Even sans marijuana, Los Angeles could make the absolute most straight-edge relationships seem stoned and surreal. The vehicle tradition bubble, class clashes and sprawling, disjointed communities mirror the dissociative isolation of a powerful high; while the city’s sheer aesthetic weirdness is a journey in itself—see: acidic air pollution sunsets, endless obstructs of low-slung neon strip malls and cartoonish cosmetic surgery, punctuated by a wealth of contemporary and postmodern art and architecture.

Considering my choices into the application shop, we fondly recalled an adolescence of relaxing on the coastline with Jack when you look at the Box, a joint and a school crush that is high. We envisioned my future love life: consuming celebrity programs during the Griffith Observatory and impassioned debates throughout the most useful taco truck on Glendale Boulevard. just just What more could any Angeleno want from a night out together? I’d to provide stoner dating a chance.

To start out my cannabis experiment that is matchmaking I downloaded three apps: 420 Singles, My 420 Mate and High Here!. The screen of 420 Singles ended up being the closest to Tinder, with left/right swiping and an email function. You’re asked to upload a profile photo, in includeition to add a bio—though that is optional no body does. All of the pages had been of teenage boys keeping blunts and adverts for DJ evenings at West Hollywood weed collectives; the highlight of 420 Singles (and, perhaps, my whole experience) had been stumbling over the profile of the C-list reality tv star that has gone viral for their stint on a TLC dating show.

My 420 Mate got points for asking about my cigarette cigarette smoking preferences—cannabis type, medical or use that is recreational and just how often we imbibe for a scale of “rarely” to “24/7”—and to be the sole application to provide non-binary gender choices when you look at the profile process. Right Here, the profiles had been much much longer, and much more direct: “What I’m seeking in sic some buddies to smoke cigarettes with and a relationship.” “Smart stoner thinking about urban activities, museums, music. Everyone loves kitties, colors and a well crafted phrase.”

Tall There’s program seemed more buddy-oriented

In the place of casting potential partners aside by having a dismissive swipe left, the software provides just good action: send an email by saying “High There!”, move forward to somebody brand new or go backwards within the deck in the event that you worry you’ve missed a potential connection. The vibe that is friendly strong sufficient that a few male pages stipulate “females only.” Of all the apps, tall There! additionally appeared to well demonstrate the Angeleno impulse to compulsively system: i ran across the pages of numerous actors hunting for shoots and exchanged a couple of communications with a visual designer whom, within seconds, enthusiastically offered her solutions being a creative collaborator.

The singles’ profiles were in many ways similar to those you’d see on any dating app across all apps

There have been just as numerous photos of Bob Marley as you’d expect (countless), along with a few pages that have been simply pictures of weed and may even are run by dispensaries in place of qualified people. (i suppose that a real cannabis connoisseur would swoon on the strain or stickiness among these pictures, but i discovered myself romantically nonplussed.) We swiped directly on pot plants, arms keeping blunts and a baby-faced pop music singer-songwriter whom stated become sponsored by way of a rolling paper company and implored profile visitors to DM him on Instagram rather.

The genuine benefit of the apps came once I experimented with different relationship parameters, switching amongst the age and location demands I frequently seek in somebody and an even more expansive pool that is dating. In this manner, i came across an amazing cross-section of lonely L.A. stoners: students, vehicle mechanics and industry execs, a citizen that is senior for anyone to enjoy some weed in her own camper trailer and an aspiring model/actor looking for someone special to illuminate with before Dodgers games. There have been a huge selection of users, with diverse backgrounds and choices. Certainly, one of these is in a position to fill me personally in from the many romantic spots to toke up or explain in my opinion the particular benefit of stoners-only relationship.

Or… maybe maybe not. My test took a turn that is unexpected, to place it, ahem, bluntly, simply no singles wished to date me personally. During the period of fourteen days, we devoted time that is daily swiping, liking and messaging over the three apps. We flirted in to the void: “What’s your chosen restaurant as soon as the munchies hit?” “What’s the stoner movie that is best about L.A.? i love Smiley Face ☺.” I received a grand total of two reactions. The very first, my possible collaborator that is artistic High Here!, stopped responding after three communications. We was believing that 420 Singles’ texting platform ended up being glitching until We finally received asian mail order brides a solitary response, 11 times after my initial dispatch. The message that is long-awaited “chill.” I really couldn’t get anyone on My 420 Mate to suit beside me at all. And thus, in answering one concern (Q: What are stoner dating apps like? A: Dismal), we opened home to another, bigger secret. If I’d had success on main-stream dating apps—I’d as soon as developed a wholesome three-year relationship from an OKCupid date—why had been these apps a complete breasts?

We completely accept that a number of this rejection boils down to your inescapable fact that individuals might possibly not have wished to match beside me. And, needless to say, application relationship is really figures game: information implies that the High around and 420 Singles each boast over 100,000 packages from Google Enjoy, while My 420 Mate clocks in at around 5,000 packages. Distribute away over a worldwide individual base, that didn’t keep me with a great deal of singles to swipe. It is additionally hard to discount problems or unintuitive interfaces—My 420 Mate logged me personally out each and every time We closed the application, for instance, and ended up being not able to deliver me personally its guaranteed password reset e-mail, therefore I lost some prospective connections insurance firms to re-create my account. Also, weed worship often seemed to overtake the dating aspects of the apps, rendering it hard to discern whether users had been searching for a link or hyping up their vape pen brand name. Interspersed between singles had been an annoying wide range of dispensary ads and pages that seemed here for the incorrect reasons (to pull a expression from my other favorite pastime that is pseudo-romantic The Bachelor franchise).

We suspect that the major reason for this dearth of reactions, but, is because of the very demographic the apps are providing to. App dating is deceptively draining: handling multiple records, crafting innovative communications and making exactly the same energetic, best-self first impression banter advertisement nauseam is honestly exhausting. Diehard stoners—to whom these apps are basically that are catering exactly lauded for his or her capacity to multi-task, exchange in rapid-fire discussion and put up and follow through on plans. It is not a stretch to assume that my improvements had been refused less away from malice than an indica-induced lethargy, or perhaps a paranoia-fueled force to react with all the perfect witticism. Ultimately, creating a few dating apps for potheads appears as savvy company concept as being a mattress review web web site for amphetamine enthusiasts.