Is There a Connection Between Marijuana Use and Sexual Frequency?
We wrote an article about drugs and creativity where we outlined how our bodies have an endocannabinoid (EC) system, and specific cannabinoid receptors in our brain and body that react to marijuana usage. The effect on our body and mental state is dependant on where the receptors are in our individual bodies. But there are some specific
- Hypothalamus is connected to your drive for eating and sexual behavior which can increase your appetite and make you want to have sex when smoking.
- Neocortex deals with complex thinking, feeling and movement, so it can alter your thinking, judgment, and sensation.
- Nucleus accumbens gives you motivation and reward feeling which can account for the euphoric feelings.
Are they connected?
So, we know that eating or smoking marijuana can affect us. But this poses the question—how else are marijuana and sex connected?
Researchers Andrew J. Sun, MD, and Michael L. Eisenberg, MD started looking at the association between marijuana use and sexual frequency in the United States back in
They just published their research of 13 years—lucky for us!
How did they do it?
To find out if there is an association they surveyed 28,176 women (average age = 29.9 years) and 22,943 men (average age = 29.5). It’s important to note some confounds of the study—one being 71% of the participants are white and this was a self-report. But they did control for other factors like demographic, socioeconomic, and
What did they find?
Drum roll…
“Marijuana use is independently associated with increased sexual frequency and does not appear to impair sexual function.”
But they also found some other interesting tid bits:
- Both men and women marijuana users had significantly higher sexual frequency compared with never users.
- And further, the more they use marijuana the more they have sex.
Interesting. More research is needed—but we’re not sure if this is surprising or not. Either
