Objective: The internet is rife with claims regarding the ability of marijuana to improve the sexual experience; however, scientific data are lacking. The objective of this study was to determine if users believed that marijuana use before sex affected the sexual experience, by how much, and which domains of sexual function were affected.
Materials and Methods: Demographic characteristics, sexual function, and marijuana use were obtained by questionnaire from women ≥18 years of age at a single academic ObGyn practice. Women who reported using marijuana prior to sex were asked about their perceived effects of marijuana on overall sexual experience, sex drive, orgasm, lubrication, and pain. Differences in sexual function between marijuana users and non-users were assessed using χ2 tests. P<0.05 denoted statistical significance.
Results: Of 289 respondents, 96(33%) had used marijuana prior to sex. Of those, 62(65%) believed marijuana made the sexual experience more pleasurable, 10(11%) believed it did not and 23(24%) didn’t know. Of those who believed that marijuana use before sex (MUBS) made the sexual experience more pleasurable, 32(53%) said it always did, 19(32%) said it sometimes did. Only 4 respondents (3%) believed that MUBS made sex less pleasurable. 56(60%) of respondents believed that MUBS increased their sex drive, 22(23%) reported no change and 15(16%) didn’t know, 1 reported a decrease. 49(53%) believed MUBS made orgasm more pleasurable, 17(18%) reported no change, 24(26%) didn’t know while 2 (2%) believed that it made orgasm less pleasurable. Of the respondents who reported a more pleasurable orgasm, 40(78%) reported it did so by a lot or a moderate amount. 24(26%) reported an increase in vaginal lubrication, 29(31%) reported no change in vaginal lubrication, 24(26%) didn’t know, while 16(17%) reported a decrease in vaginal lubrication. Only 13(14%) respondents had used marijuana before sex to decrease pain, and of those, 10(77%) reported that pain was decreased by a lot or a moderate amount. Women who used marijuana before sex and women who did not use marijuana before sex did not differ significantly in overall health, sexual health, level of desire, satisfaction with orgasm or the degree of pain.
Conclusions: While causality can not be assessed with this type of study, the majority of marijuana users before sex reported a better overall sexual experience, an increase in sex drive, a more pleasurable orgasm and a decrease in pain. There was no correlation between sexual difficulties and MUBS.
