Marijuana Improves Sex And Could Help Close ‘Orgasm Inequality Gap’ Between Men And Women, New Study Indicates

Yet another study has found evidence that cannabis can lead to better sex, with participants reporting heightened desire, more intense orgasms and sharpened sensory perception.

The paper, published Friday in the Journal of Cannabis Research, was led by Amanda Moser of East Carolina University, now a Denver-based sexologist specializing in combining cannabis and sex.

Results of Moser’s online survey of 811 adults who’ve used cannabis found greater perceived sexual functioning and satisfaction regardless of age or gender: More than 70 percent of people said using cannabis before sex increased desire and improved orgasms. Another 62.5 percent said cannabis enhanced their pleasure while masturbating.

But Moser and co-authors say the study’s findings are especially relevant for women’s pleasure. The results “suggest that cannabis can potentially close the orgasm inequality gap,” they write, referring to past findings that women who have sex with men are typically less likely to orgasm than their partners.

“Women may be more likely to orgasm when using cannabis before sexual encounters, which could contribute to equity in the amount of sexual pleasure and satisfaction experienced by both women and men,” the study says.

Past studies have found that while more than 90 percent of men report usually having orgasms during intercourse, fewer than 50 percent of women do. “To me that’s a problem,” Moser told Marijuana Moment in 2019, shortly after her survey was conducted.

To recruit participants, Moser posted the survey on social media and shared links with medical marijuana and legal cannabis advocacy organizations. Respondents were excluded if they were under 18 or hadn’t ever used cannabis.

Majorities of respondents identified as white (78.9 percent), female (64.9 percent) and college-educated (80.1 percent). Nearly a quarter (23.1 percent) identified as LGBTQIA+. Ages ranged from 18 to 85, and 73.7 percent said they were in a monogamous relationship.

The survey included questions on cannabis use and its effects on participants’ perceived senses of smell, taste and touch. It also asked about a dozen questions regarding marijuana’s influence on specific aspects of sex and arousal. “This comprehensive scale moves beyond the physiological effects (e.g., achieving an erection) and incorporates overall sexual functioning and satisfaction,” the study says.

Most respondents (62.8 percent) reported using cannabis daily. About 6 in 10 (58.9 percent) said they used cannabis intentionally before engaging in sex.

Many findings, the authors write, were consistent with existing literature. Both men and women, for example, reported heightened desire and orgasm intensity. Women said they were better able to have multiple orgasms.

“These results align with the increased relaxation when using cannabis,” the study says. “Those who use cannabis report being more relaxed, whether mental or physical, which would improve overall sexual functioning and pleasure.”

More than 70 percent of respondents said cannabis enhanced their senses of taste and touch. While that much might be clear to anyone who’s ever had the munchies, the study’s authors note that taste and touch are also “two senses that are heavily used during sexual intercourse.”

One area where the survey results break from past studies is men’s ability to maintain and achieve an erection with cannabis. While some research indicated that cannabis could inhibit that ability, the men polled in Moser’s study reported no such difficulties. “However, due to the self-report nature of this survey, social desirability may have prevented them from reporting erectile issues,” the paper says.

Indeed, a fundamental limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported recollections of cannabis users. “Participants were asked to retrospectively self-report based on many years,” it says, “which would result in recall bias.” It notes that “results are measuring participants’ perceptions of the effects of cannabis rather than the collection of physiological data.”

Moser points out that sexual satisfaction was improved by an especially wide margin when participants purposefully used cannabis before sex.

“These results may be because of the mental mindset that using cannabis will increase pleasure due to the aphrodisiac notions of cannabis rather than a true physiological effect,” Moser acknowledges. “However, the relaxation effects of cannabis may contribute to increased desire or reduced inhibitions that might contribute to increased sexual functioning and satisfaction.”

The study’s findings may have implications for treating medical dysfunctions, especially with women, Moser says. “Women with vaginismus (i.e., painful intercourse) may benefit from the muscular relaxation and increased sexual functioning that results from cannabis use, while women with decreased desire could also see possible benefits.”

Becky Lynn, a women’s health specialist and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Saint Louis University in Maryland, was the lead author of a 2019 study with similar findings. In that survey of women at an OB/GYN practice, women who said they used marijuana before sex were more than twice as likely to report satisfactory orgasms.

“I have seen [cannabis] used in women with chronic pain disorders that lead to painful sex, women who experience difficulty with orgasm or an inability to orgasm, and women who use it to improve their libido, which may not match their partner’s libido,” Lynn told Weedmaps at the time.

A 2020 study in the journal Sexual Medicine, meanwhile, found that women who used cannabis more often had better sex.

Numerous online surveys have also reported positive associations between marijuana and sex. One study even found a connection between the passage of marijuana laws and increased sexual activity.

Yet another study, however, cautions that more marijuana doesn’t necessarily mean better sex. A literature review published in 2019 found that cannabis’s impact on libido may depend on dosage, with lower amounts of THC correlating with the highest levels of arousal and satisfaction. Most studies showed that marijuana has a positive effect on women’s sexual function, the study found, but too much THC can actually backfire.

“Several studies have evaluated the effects of marijuana on libido, and it seems that changes in desire may be dose dependent,” the review’s authors wrote. “Studies support that lower doses improve desire but higher doses either lower desire or do not affect desire at all.”

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Photo courtesy of Carlos Gracia.