Science & Health
Marijuana Gives Men And Women More Sexual Desire And Better Orgasms, Study Finds
Recent research suggests that marijuana use can improve orgasms for women. Now, a new yet-to-be-published study says that men may also find their bedroom activities enhanced by cannabis.
According to an abstract shared online, the study found “participants perceived that cannabis use increased their sexual functioning and satisfaction.” Age and gender did not play a role in how marijuana consumption affected sex, and the study’s participants reported “increased desire, orgasm intensity, and masturbation pleasure.”
The findings are the result of a nationwide survey conducted by recent East Carolina University graduate Amanda Moser for her master’s thesis in human development and family science. Her goal was to build on what limited research there currently is exploring the impact of cannabis use on people’s sex lives, she told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview.
Moser created an anonymous online survey targeting people 18 and older who said they’d used marijuana. For her purposes, she adapted questions taken from other frameworks used to assess human sexual response. For example, the survey asked participants to rate how cannabis affected their ability to achieve and maintain an erection (for men) and lubrication (for women). The survey also asked respondents if they believed cannabis creates a more satisfactory and pleasurable sex life, and how taste, touch, hearing, smell and sound were influenced by consumption.
A sample of 811 people with various backgrounds and marijuana preferences participated in the study. Moser said she found cannabis to be sexually beneficial for both men and women, regardless of age, as well as throughout the lifespan. “People who were 18 years old had amazing benefits as well as people up to 85 years old, and everyone in between,” she explained. “All found that cannabis was beneficial for their sexual functioning as well as their sexual satisfaction.”
The full study, which Marijuana Moment hasn’t reviewed, is currently under embargo as Moser is working to get it published later this year.
Overall, Moser said, participants reported consuming cannabis led to more pleasure not just during sex, but also during masturbation as well. Both men and women said they had an increased desire for sex, and found that their orgasms were more intense. Women, she added, reported that they were able to achieve multiple orgasms.
Taste and touch were also “significantly enhanced” during sex after marijuana use, thus leading to more satisfaction. “If you think about it, you use taste and touch a lot during sex,” she added.
Although one major limitation of the research is that it’s based on self-reports, Moser pointed out that her findings contradict prior work that suggested cannabis use would not be beneficial for men during sex. “Previous literature said that cannabis is a muscle relaxer, and would be more inhibiting for males—that males would have a harder time achieving and maintaining an erection,” she explained. “It makes sense, but my research actually showed contradicting to that. I found that [cannabis] does not affect males’ ability to achieve and maintain an erection, that males did not report having any issues with that.”
Moser speculated that the reason why men may not have trouble getting an erection after consumption—as previous researchers have suggested—is because marijuana may act as a vasodilator. In other words, cannabinoids may help widen blood vessels to improve blood flow.
Ultimately, however, Moser said that her findings reveal cannabis’s potential for not only treating and curing female sexual dysfunction, but also addressing “the orgasm inequality gap,” which describes the fact that men in heterosexual relationships are far more likely to orgasm than their partners.
“To me, that’s a problem,” Moser said. “More females should be having more orgasms. Maybe cannabis can help with that.”
Marijuana Use Before Sex Leads To More Satisfying Orgasms, Study Finds
