Last Updated on 19th September 2020

Sex lives are better with CBD

There are a range of studies showing the many health benefits of CBD oil and cannabis itself. A recent academic study performed by East Carolina University in the US has concluded that cannabis is a great asset to men’s sexual prowess. It is the latest in a mounting body of research pointing to the value of cannabis to men in the bedroom. The research, which might tally with many of us, who may (or may not) have dabbled in our youth, confirms cannabis as a useful accessory for both sex drive and satisfaction.

Up until recent years, science has been unable to confirm the wealth of anecdotal evidence surrounding the plant, but now that laws have been relaxed in various locations, research is finally being practised and beginning to emerge.

Better sexual satisfaction rates using CBD

The study, which is yet to be fully released, has published its abstract, revealing“participants perceived that cannabis use increased their sexual functioning and satisfaction.” Age and gender did not play a role in how cannabis consumption affected sex, and the study’s participants reported “increased desire, orgasm intensity, and masturbation pleasure.”

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The university’s Amanda Moser carried out the research for her master’s thesis in human development and family science. Her goal was to build on what limited research there currently is exploring the impact of cannabis use on people’s sex lives, she told Marijuana Moment this week. Moser created an anonymous online survey targeting people 18 and older who said they’d used marijuana. For her purposes, she adapted questions taken from other frameworks used to assess human sexual response.

For example, the survey asked participants to rate how cannabis affected their ability to achieve and maintain an erection (for men) and lubrication (for women). The survey also asked respondents if they believed cannabis creates a more satisfactory and pleasurable sex life, and how taste, touch, hearing, smell and sound were influenced by consumption.

A sample of 811 people with various backgrounds and marijuana preferences participated in the study. Moser said she found cannabis to be sexually beneficial for both men and women, regardless of age, as well as throughout the lifespan. “People who were 18 years old had amazing benefits as well as people up to 85 years old, and everyone in between,” she explained.

“All found that cannabis was beneficial for their sexual functioning as well as their sexual satisfaction.”

Overall, Moser said, participants reported consuming cannabis led to more pleasure not just during sex, but also during masturbation as well. Both men and women said they had an increased desire for sex, and found that their orgasms were more intense. Women, she added, reported that they were able to achieve multiple orgasms with CBD lube.

Taste and touch were also “significantly enhanced” during sex after marijuana use, thus leading to more satisfaction. “If you think about it, you use taste and touch a lot during sex,” she added. Although one major limitation of the research is that it’s based on self-reports, Moser pointed out that her findings contradict prior work that suggested cannabis use would not be beneficial for men during sex.

CBD helps maintain an erection during sex

“Previous literature said that cannabis is a muscle relaxer, and would be more inhibiting for males—that males would have a harder time achieving and maintaining an erection,” she explained. “It makes sense, but my research actually showed contradicting to that. I found that [cannabis] does not affect males’ ability to achieve and maintain an erection, that males did not report having any issues with that.”

Moser speculated that the reason why men may not have trouble getting an erection after consumption—as previous researchers have suggested—is because marijuana may act as a vasodilator. In other words, cannabinoids may help widen blood vessels to improve blood flow. While this research will not be published until next year, expect more and more studies to be done as the cannabis research floodgates have opened.

In recent times, the news around CBD and male sexual health have been very encouraging. According to the limited number of studies available, CBD has been seen to decrease performance anxiety and improve blood flow, all good characteristics for sexual congress to occur.

The compound has also shown firm evidence of potential therapeutic agent in the treatment of erectile dysfunction, pardon the pun. A recent study found high amounts of C1 and CB2 receptors in the corpus cavernosum, which governs the erection.

Delving deeper into the science

In order for an erection to take place, the corpus cavernosum must relax. It was found that anadamide, our bodies’ endogenous version of THC, helped to relax the smooth muscle in the corpus cavernosum. Cannabidiol when taken regularly, has been shown to increase our bodies’ natural baseline of anandamide.

Meanwhile, a Harvard study earlier this year piles further evidence as to the suitability of cannabis for men's’ sex lives, while contradicting the received wisdom around the subject.

Evidence showing cannabis users have higher sperm counts during sex

A study published in the Human Reproduction medical journal found that male cannabis smokers might actually carry higher sperm counts and concentrations when compared to men who have never used the botanical drug.

“Those who had never used marijuana had 28 percent less potent semen.”

“Our findings were contrary to what we hypothesized at the start of the study,” study lead author Feiby Nassan, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a statement.

Researchers analyzed health surveys and semen samples from more than 650 men who were part of couples seeking treatment at the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center between 2000 and 2017. The majority of the men participating had normal sperm counts, suggesting that other conception issues may have been the issue.

Experts found that men who reported to have smoked marijuana had an average sperm concentration of 63 million sperm per millilitre of semen. Those who had never used marijuana were 28 percent less potent (48 million sperm/millilitre).

In 2017, Stanford University researchers found a similar surprise — cannabis users had significantly more sexual intercourse than non-users. Male daily cannabis consumers had 1.3 times more sex per month (6.9 sex instances) than never-users (5.6 instances) as well as very infrequent users of cannabis (5.5 instances).

Just like the alcohol industry is having to take on board the threat of alcohol to its profits, so too might certain pharmaceutical industries have to stand up (sit up rather) and pay attention to the confirmed competition posed by the natural alternative offered by cannabis and CBD.