Latest Studies Show Cannabis Can Improve Sex Life
Not happy with your sex life? Cannabis is not your first option. You should start with some sex education. Most people learn about sex on their own, in the schoolyard, and through trial and error — a really disastrous combination when you think about it. Studies show cannabis can improve your sex life, but let’s not write prematurely.
Sex: the feel-good instinct —
At its core, sex is advertised as the physiological instinct to continue the species. It’s such a fundamental urge, not much rational thought goes into it. The hormones involved seek greedy satisfaction often overriding common sense. Those hormones are triggered by touch, smell, and sight — and sometimes by emotional interest. This drive can be socially acceptable relations called “love” or simple self-satisfaction.
The sex drive is easily — if temporarily — relieved by masturbation, but most feel compelled to peruse mutual satisfaction with a partner. And, those sexual acts can be more or less selfish; that is, most participate with an interest split between self-interest and satisfaction for the partner.
No two of us reach this point without a history of expectations shaped and shattered by personal experience, sex education, individual experiments, exaggerated media, partner relationships, and word of mouth.
Fact — sex is your friend —
The fact is there would not be billions of us if the sexual act were not such a good deal with pleasure overriding best intentions. However, age and health influence any animal instinct. Even continuous healthy sex risks eventual disinterest, self-interest, and boredom.
It helps if you understand the physiology of sex as it corresponds to age and gender. For males, this centers on the ability to achieve and sustain an erection. Blood flow stretches the penis and sustains the erection with high sensitivity. The erect penis is meant to penetrate the vagina where friction against the vaginal sleeve (or anything similar) will stimulate orgasm.
In the female, blood flow expands, sensitizes, and lubricates the vulva. External stimulation will trigger orgasm under the right circumstances. That is, the female orgasm has a stronger connection with context and emotion.
The ability to sustain the physical response lengthens and improves the experience. So, we all seek support in achieving and prolonging the sexual act —with or without a partner.
Maximizing your sexual experience —
Before you look for help, you must optimize your health. Great sex depends on your weight, respiration, blood flow, and other physical and neurological factors. Regular exercise strengthens your capability.
Good nutrition will enrich the associated blood and hormones. The stimulants that trigger sexual interest and activity do so by secreting and deploying hormones. Eating well and prudently strengthens these systems.
For men who need more help, a large inventory of drugs and devices can help. Viagra and similar pharmaceuticals treat erectile disfunction. Surgical procedures can correct blood flow to and into spongy tissues that expand the penis. And, dozens of available mechanical devices artificially support the penis. Women have fewer options.
While physical abilities naturally decline with age, they are not doomed. The assumption that healthy senior citizens have little sexual interest or ability is a common unfounded bias.
Does cannabis offer an option?
The cannabinoids in marijuana map over to endocannabinoids in the amygdala and hypothalamus where 2 AG is released following orgasm. Cannabis expands blood vessels to increase blood flow.
Cannabis also reduces the pain, anxiety, and fears that may related to sexual capability or condition. Animal research at the University of Albany suggests that cannabinoid influence on CB 1 neural receptors can delay orgasm;
The Journal of Sexual Medicine (2017) reported on a self-disclosure survey of 373 women at St. Louis University. Questioned about their sexual experiences, 176 participants admitted using cannabis before sex.
68.5% stated their experience was more pleasurable.
60.06% reported an increased sex drive.
52.8% claimed they had more satisfying orgasms.
0% felt no increase in lubrication.
Now, self-disclosure surveys measure impressions more than facts, so you must understand these results in that context.
Research at Stanford University’s Department of Urology (2017) studied 28,176 women and 22,943 men concluding cannabis users experienced significantly higher sexual frequency than those who never use. The increased frequency conflicted with any assumption that marijuana affects interest or performance functionality.
Of the women tested, the majority reported satisfaction, viz. “The majority of women [who said that they mixed sex and cannabis] said that the sexual experience was improved, orgasms were improved, the libido was improved, pain was improved, and lubrication really didn’t change” (Global News).
On the other hand, little recent research counters earlier findings among animal and human test subjects that chronic cannabis use will negatively impact sperm count, motility, and viability. “In 20 chronic marijuana users who smoked marijuana at least 4 days per week for 6 months those who smoked 10 or more times per week had a significantly lower average ± SD sperm count than men who smoked 5 to 9 marijuana cigarettes per week.”
A 2019 article in Andrology reviewed the literature on cannabis and male sexuality. It only reiterates that the research has not advanced beyond 2010 requiring much more long-term research into the affects on the smooth muscle tissue that enables erections, the possible reduction in prostate and testicular cancer, and the negative effects on fertility. No comparable studies on women are underway.
So, what do you have?
Your libido is not a thing. It labels a “drive” to seek sexual satisfaction. The drive resides in the cerebral cortex and the limbic system and is influenced by multiple factors, including physical and psychological health, social and religious norms, environmental and other ecosystems, and more.
Cannabis can relax emotional and social inhibitions making sex more convivial, romantic, and mutually satisfying. Cannabis directly and indirectly affects the human brain centers where libido flourishes. And, it may enhance experiences with modulation of pain, anxiety, and fear.
As with any inebriant, excessive and chronic use of cannabis may have negative effects on make performance and fertility, issues of special import to the users in the largest age group. So, you must manage your cannabis intake if you want to protect your output.
