Marijuana boosts libido and enhances sexual performance, a new study has found – despite previous research suggesting the opposite. For years, many scientists have associated the drug with sexual dysfunction.
But new research by the Stanford University School of Medicine, United States (U.S.), has found that, on the contrary, cannabis users have 20 percent more sex than non-users – and there appears to be a causal connection.
The findings, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, are based on an analysis of more than 50,000 Americans between the ages of 25 and 45 – and they mark the first ever to examine the relationship between marijuana and sex in the US.
Frequent marijuana use doesn’t seem to impair sexual motivation or performance. If anything, it’s associated with increased coital frequency,” said the study’s senior author, Michael Eisenberg, MD, assistant professor of urology.
The most recent data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse show more than 20 million American adults use marijuana – and that rate is rocketing as more states legalize the drug for recreational and medical use. It is already legal in 29 states.
The rapid legalization movement has pushed scientists to investigate all aspects of the drug’s properties and impacts. Research is divided on many points – but when it comes to sex, things are especially murky.Some studies have found the drug affects a man’s sperm count and erectile function, while others have shown it activates sexual arousal in the brain.