Why Some People Use Cannabis During Sex: New Research Reveals the Psychological Motivations

Thursday, March 12, 2026.

Human beings have been experimenting with substances and intimacy for a very long time.

Wine.
Music.
Candlelight.
And occasionally decisions that seemed brilliant at the time.

Cannabis is simply the newest participant in this long-running human experiment.

Despite being the second most commonly used substance during sex after alcohol, it has received surprisingly little attention in scientific research.

That is beginning to change.

A recent study published in The Journal of Sex Research by researcher Maëlle Lefebvre and colleagues at Université du Québec à Montréal takes a closer look at why young adults combine cannabis and sex—and what they say the experience actually does for them.

The answers are more psychologically interesting than you might expect.

Participants described three primary motivations:

• enhancing pleasure.

• reducing anxiety.

• navigating gender expectations during intimacy.

In other words, the motivations often mirrored the same reasons people seek intimacy in the first place.

Listening carefully to how people actually experience sex and cannabis

Rather than relying on surveys alone, the researchers conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 27 young adults in Quebec between the ages of 18 and 24.

All participants had used cannabis during partnered sex at least once in the previous year.

The group included a diverse range of identities, including cisgender men and women, transgender men, and nonbinary or queer participants.

Each interview lasted between 60 and 150 minutes, allowing participants to describe their experiences in unusually rich detail.

Researchers then analyzed the transcripts using a theoretical framework that views gender as a social structure—something that shapes expectations, behaviors, and self-perception during intimate interactions.

Three themes emerged.

1. Cannabis often amplifies sensation and emotional connection.

Many participants described cannabis as intensifying physical sensations during sex.

Ordinary touch sometimes felt more vivid.

Time felt slower.

Participants frequently reported feeling more immersed in the experience.

Several folks described the sensation of being inside what they called a shared bubble of intimacy with their partner.

That phrase is revealing.

One of the central psychological ingredients of intimacy is the feeling that two people have temporarily stepped outside the pressures of the external world.

For some participants, cannabis appeared to deepen that sensation of mutual presence.

2. Cannabis quiets the anxious mind.

A second motivation had less to do with sensation and more to do with psychology.

Many participants said cannabis helped silence intrusive thoughts.

Folks described worries fading away:

• stress about work.

• anxiety about sexual performance.

• body-image concerns.

• intrusive self-critical thinking.

This effect appeared particularly often among women in the study, who described cannabis as helping them stop overthinking during sex.

From a psychological perspective, this finding is fascinating because it overlaps with a phenomenon sex researchers have studied for decades.

Many sexual difficulties arise when we begin monitoring ourselves during intimacy.

Instead of feeling sensation directly, we start wondering how we look, or whether we are performing correctly.

Sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson described this process as spectatoring.

In spectatoring, the mind becomes an audience.

The body becomes a performance.

And anxiety quietly replaces pleasure.

Cannabis appears, for some individuals, to temporarily interrupt that mental monitoring.

In other words, it may reduce the experience I describe elsewhere as the Witnessed Body Effect—the moment when a person stops inhabiting their body and begins imagining how it appears to their partner.

When that internal audience disappears, attention returns to sensation.

And sensation is where sexual confidence lives.

3. Gender expectations shape how people use cannabis during sex.

The study also revealed how strongly cultural expectations influence sexual behavior.

Cisgender men sometimes reported using cannabis to boost stamina or energy, reflecting the social expectation that men should perform confidently and dominate sexually.

Meanwhile, transgender men sometimes described cannabis as helping them feel spontaneous sexual desire rather than overthinking whether they were “ready” for sex.

For some transgender participants, cannabis also temporarily eased gender dysphoria, the distress that occurs when someone’s physical body does not align with their internal sense of gender identity.

This allowed them to feel more comfortable inhabiting their bodies during intimacy.

These findings highlight something sex therapists often observe in practice.

Substances rarely operate in isolation.

They interact with social expectations, identity, and personal history.

When cannabis becomes emotional armor

Not every motivation described in the study was about pleasure.

Cannabis as an Experience Buffer

Some participants said they used cannabis to tolerate sexual encounters they were not fully enthusiastic about.

A few described using it to emotionally detach while engaging in sex out of obligation to a partner.

Participants with trauma histories also reported using cannabis to create psychological distance from the experience.

These findings serve as an important reminder.

While cannabis may soften anxiety in the moment, it can sometimes function as emotional armor rather than genuine resolution.

Using substances to endure intimacy is very different from using them to deepen connection.

Sometimes cannabis and sex simply coexist.

Interestingly, cannabis use was not always a deliberate strategy.

For some participants, cannabis was simply part of their everyday routine.

They were already under its influence when spontaneous sexual encounters occurred.

Conditioned Pleasure Response

Over time, some individuals developed a kind of learned association between cannabis use and sexual arousal.

Psychologists call this conditioning.

When two experiences occur together repeatedly, the brain begins linking them automatically.

Eventually, one cue can trigger anticipation of the other.

What the research actually tells us.

The researchers caution against viewing cannabis as a universal solution for sexual concerns.

Using cannabis to manage anxiety, body image issues, or trauma may provide temporary relief but can also prevent individuals from addressing deeper relational challenges.

At the same time, the study highlights something that is often missing from public discussions about sex and substances.

Pleasure.

As Lefebvre explained, many participants described cannabis use during sex simply as enhancing connection, presence, and enjoyment.

Those experiences are part of human sexuality and deserve thoughtful, nonjudgmental study.

A therapist’s observation

In therapy conversations about cannabis and intimacy rarely revolve around the substance itself.

The deeper issue is almost always psychological.

How comfortable does someone feel being seen by another person while inhabiting their body?

For some life partners cannabis temporarily reduces the internal audience that interferes with intimacy.

But lasting sexual confidence tends to develop through a different pathway.

It grows from emotional safety, trust, and the ability to remain present while being known.

Substances may alter the moment.

Relationships shape the experience.

When Reading About Relationships Isn’t Enough

People often arrive here the way most of us arrive anywhere on the internet—following a question that quietly refuses to leave them alone.

Something about intimacy feels confusing.
Or unexpectedly difficult.
Or simply different from what they expected.

Research can illuminate patterns and name experiences that once felt mysterious.

But real change usually happens in conversation—when two people examine those patterns together and begin to understand what they might both be missing.

If you and your partner find yourselves circling questions about intimacy, connection, or emotional distance, a more deliberate conversation may help.

I offer private couples consultations and intensive science-based couples therapy designed to help partners understand the deeper structure of the challenges they are facing.

Be Well, Stay Kind, and Godspeed.

REFERENCES:

Barlow, D. H. (1986). Causes of sexual dysfunction: The role of anxiety and cognitive interference. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54(2), 140–148. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.54.2.140

Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21(2), 173–206. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x

Lefebvre, M., Goyette, M., Morvannou, A., London-Nadeau, K., Saint-Jacques, M., & Ferlatte, O. (2025). “It’s a beautiful feeling”: Exploring embodied, psychological, and gendered motivations for sex under the influence of cannabis among young adults. The Journal of Sex Research.

Lynn, B. K., López, J. D., Miller, C., Thompson, J., & Campian, E. C. (2019). The relationship between marijuana use prior to sex and sexual function in women. Sexual Medicine, 7(2), 192–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2019.01.001

Masters, W. H., & Johnson, V. E. (1970). Human sexual inadequacy. Little, Brown.

Palamar, J. J., Acosta, P., & Ompad, D. C. (2019). Self-reported cannabis use and sexual functioning among adults in the United States. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 16(1), 108–115.

Prause, N., & Pfaus, J. (2015). Viewing sexual stimuli associated with greater sexual responsiveness, not erectile dysfunction. Sexual Medicine, 3(2), 90–98. https://doi.org/10.1002/sm2.58

Wiederman, M. W. (2000). Women’s body image self-consciousness during physical intimacy with a partner. The Journal of Sex Research, 37(1), 60–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490009552021