Editor’s note: This editorial about the joys of cannabis paired with sex was written by Lisa Beebe and originally published
Given that rapid rate at which cannabis legalization is growing throughout the world, it’s no wonder that an incresing number of people are smoking, eating and applying CBD or THC-based products before sex.
Sure, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that cannabis enhances people’s sex lives. But Eaze, a popular online cannabis delivery service, believes that hard data is crucial to eliminating the stigma associated with indulging in the natural drug; that’s why they partnered with smart vibrator manufacturer Lioness for a fascinating study on how cannabis effects sex.
“We’ve seen that consumers are very focused on wellness, and part of wellness is sexual health,” says Eaze’s Head of Policy Research Peter Gigante. The resulting report, titled “Let’s Toke About Sex”, unveils how people can or should interact with cannabis in the bedroom (or wherever they choose to garner pleasure). Nineteen Lioness customers volunteered to experiment with cannabis products and report back on how said products interacted with their most intimate moments. At the same time, 432 Lioness newsletter subscribers—of varying age groups, genders and relation statuses—took part in the study by completing an online survey. The biggest takeaway: Cannabis leads to better sex no matter who you are.
According to the survey results, cannabis enhances sex in multiple ways, from increasing the frequency and quality of orgasms, to helping people find sex toys more pleasurable, to increasing the length of sex sessions. Gigante says the report found that with cannabis use, “64 percent of people that we surveyed said they experience longer solo sessions. 73 percent experience longer partner sessions.”
In some cases, people are choosing cannabis as an alternative to mainstream medicine. “One of the major reasons that people tell us that they consume cannabis is to deal with their anxiety. We know that anxiety comes in all sorts of flavors, including in the bedroom, and so we would not be at all surprised to see that being a mechanism for why people are engaging longer and better,” says Gigante. He adds that people also reported that cannabis made them feel more connected to their partner, and says, “Feeling that kind of connection and intimacy automatically leads into wanting to engage for longer.”
Participants compared their sexual experiences after consuming alcohol with their experiences after consuming cannabis. People who use cannabis associate it with more intense orgasms (66 percent versus 2 percent), longer sex sessions (57 percent versus 6 percent), feeling connected to a partner (56 percent versus 3 percent), more satisfying foreplay (55 percent vs 3 percent) and a greater number of orgasms (52 percent versus 2 percent).Like alcohol, cannabis can be consumed in many different forms; tequila can make someone feel one way while whiskey can make them feel another. When it comes to cannabis, THC seems to be marginally more effective in enhancing sexual experiences than CBD products. The top three products that respondents said resulted in the longest sessions were THC edibles, THC vapes , and CBD edibles.
Ashley Manta, sex coach and CannaSexual creator, is one of the 19 people who conducted personal trials with a Lioness vibrator for the Eaze study. In general, she prefers to use products with a one-to-one ratio of THC to CBD during sexual experiences. “They work better together. The THC does more for creativity and euphoria and heightening sensation,” she says. “While CBD kind of keeps you a little bit more grounded.” CBD also helps with anxiety, so it may be a good choice for people who feel nervous or intimidated.
Jordan Tishler, MD a professor at Harvard University’s medical school and president of the Association of Cannabis Specialists, is particularly interested in the male perspective on cannabis and sex. “One of the issues that we deal with is what we used to call premature ejaculation. That’s one problem, and then another problem is that sometimes men have difficulty achieving orgasm,” he explains. “It happens too soon, or it happens too late.” He has found that when men use cannabis, have a better chance of finding the best timing. “The people who are having trouble because they orgasm too soon tend to last longer. And the guys who are having trouble achieving orgasm seem to do better at achieving it sooner. Everybody ends up happier.”
Cannabis can also help calm down any negative voice in a man’s head during sex that could harm performance. Manta calls society’s emphasis on penetrative sex a “heteronormative fixation,” and she finds it limiting. She says, “There’s a thousand reasons why you might not be hard on any given day. And, and there’s a thousand reasons why you may not be able to stay hard, or perhaps you ejaculate sooner than you intend to, or whatever. That doesn’t have to mean sex is over.” For men who stress about what their stamina or hardness says about their masculinity, she says, “I think cannabis kind of helps to set that shit aside so that you can just be present with what’s happening.”While the study highlighted the positive effects of THC and CBD edibles, Tishler points out that it’s also important to consider timing. He offers the example of someone who says, “Tonight, I feel like getting stoned, so I’m going to take an edible.” Later that night, they might say, “Now I’m really horny, so let’s do it.” That’s a different scenario than saying, ‘I would like to improve our sex life, so let’s use cannabis.” He says, “If you’re using cannabis, and incidentally then having sex, that is a different phenomenon than using cannabis specifically and mindfully for sex.” Since that difference wasn’t addressed in the study, he says, “It leads to what looks like an erroneous conclusion that you should be using edibles for sex.”
A couple might have great sex when the edible catches up with them, but Tishler doesn’t believe an edible is the best choice for two people who are ready to have a sexual experience together in the immediate future. If they’re already hot and bothered, he says, “Taking an edible is useless, because it’s going to be an hour or two before it kicks in. If you’re sitting with your partner, and the idea is, ‘Let’s get something started,’ then inhalation is the way to go, because it’s quick.”
He clarifies that he recommends a particular kind of inhalation that doesn’t involve smoking a joint or using a vape pen. He suggests vaping flower with an herbal or dry herb vaporizer. He says, “The idea is that you open them up, and you put ground up cannabis in them, as opposed to putting it into a joint, but it’s the same material that you’re using for those machines.”
The Eaze survey results were resoundingly positive about including cannabis products in sexual experiences, and the report itself ends with a friendly note suggesting that people try to replicate the data via their own experiments. If combining cannabis and sex is a new experience for you, Ashley Manta has a few words of advice: “Whatever you’re going to try, try it on your own first and masturbate so that you know how it impacts your sexual experience.” That way, you’ll have a sense of what to expect before you get a partner involved. She says, “You want to know if it’s not working because of the weed, or it’s not working because maybe you and your partner are having an off day, or you’re stressed out. If you’re by yourself, you know that you’re the only one impacting the experience, other than the weed.” As you get to know how the cannabis affects you, Manta says you might notice anything from “Oh, my senses are heightened” to “I just wanna watch Netflix, This is probably not a good date night product.”
Jordan Tishler agrees with Manta’s suggestion to try things by yourself first and adds another caution: “How it will behave on day one, and how it behaves after you’ve used it, say, for a month, are going to be different.” He also recommends monitoring the amount that you use—for several reasons. “If we’re not cautious with our cannabis dose, then we can develop a tolerance over time that requires us to use ever increasing amounts of cannabis.” That can lead to an increased risk of dependence, and you’ll also be spending a lot more money on weed. Tishler says paying attention to how much you use is especially important for men, “If you get too much, then it’s very hard to maintain an erection or to focus on the mechanical aspects of sex, so generally, men do better with sort of a lower dose.”
What qualifies as a “low” dose? That depends on your body and your tolerance, among other things. Or, as this particular report puts it, “It’s worth noting that there is no magic number when it comes to cannabis dosing to enhance sex—it’s important to find what works for you.”