Updated 7/1/2022
Weed is an incredibly versatile plant. It can help you relax. It can make you laugh. Some say it can even improve your productivity (especially if the task at hand is inhaling a bag of Flamin’ Hots). But as for whether it makes you horny? That one’s up for debate. So grab your bong — and your schlong — and listen up as our panel of canna-experts unpack the mystery of weed and sex drive.
Does Weed Make You Horny? A Weed Scientist Says Yes
Citing a recent study on marijuana and sexual function, Jeffrey C. Raber, CEO of The Werc Shop cannabis laboratory, says the data “surely suggest there are underlying biological mechanisms at play in this regard.” However, what they are and how we can tap into them remains unclear. All we know, Raber continues, is that weed may make some people horny.
“Relaxation, mood elevation, enhanced excitement, euphoric undertones and more are all purported to be attributes of cannabis use by some people,” he explains. “Any one of those — and especially a combination of those — could be helpful toward generating a positive effect on libido.”
Does It Depend On the Person? A Sexologist Says Absolutely
According to sexologist Sunny Rodgers, the short answer is, yes, ganja does make you hot and ready. “But the aphrodisiac result is dependent on the marijuana strain, the individual’s body chemistry and whether the weed is smoked or consumed,” she clarifies.
For instance, 67 percent of respondents to a Psychology Today poll said that marijuana enhanced their sexual experiences, but 20 percent said it depended on everything from bud type to mood. “The effects of marijuana strongly relate to how a person is feeling prior to smoking,” one participant offered. “If I’m in a bad mood and smoke, sex is completely out of the question because I withdraw into myself and just can’t connect with anyone else. On the other hand, if my beau and I have had a great night out and top it off with a bowl, it’s definitely got its merits.”
As for why weed can turn at least some of us into bang machines, Rodgers says she feels like “marijuana allows people to relax, which helps them feel more attractive to their sexual partners.”
Is It Complicated? A “Cannasexual” Says Definitely
“As fun as that would be, weed in and of itself doesn’t make you horny,” says Ashley Manta, sex coach and self-proclaimed “cannasexual.” “Arousal and desire are complicated, multifaceted processes. To assume that you can take a few puffs of a joint and magically transform both your brain and body into the proper headspace is reductive at best.”
Still, as with Rodgers, Manta says that cannabis can help address the things that get in the way of arousal and desire like pain, stress, performance anxiety, body shame and societally rooted inhibitions. “It can help focus your wandering mind and keep you present and embodied in the moment,” she continues. “That can make pleasure more accessible, which makes sex more enjoyable and thus more appealing. There’s a great deal of self-reported data that suggest people who consume cannabis experience greater pleasure and sexual satisfaction.”
Can It Make You Bang Better? A 420-Friendly OnlyFans Creator Says Yes, Daddy
“[Weed] definitely helps bring down my inhibitions and relax into the moments,” says OnlyFans star Baby Girl Bella, a self-described weed “connoisseur.” “I find myself much more playful when I’m a bit stoney.”
Or as one of the above-mentioned Psychology Today poll respondents poetically described, “Marijuana engulfs me in sex foam.”
I’ll definitely have a puff of whatever they’re smoking.
Ian Lecklitner
Ian Lecklitner is a staff writer at MEL Magazine. He mostly writes about everyone's favorite things: Sex, drugs and food.
