It’s hot, it’s steamy, Rod Stewart’s crooning from the smart speaker (or maybe Shawn Mendes if you don’t remember Rod Stewart!), and you’re feeling sexy. Or are you?
If we’ve learned anything about sex, it’s that it’s complicated. Libido is a capricious spirit influenced by a vast array of factors: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and situational. Researchers are just beginning to distinguish different types of libido that can be aroused (or crushed) by some surprising things. And while some health conditions are associated with diminished libido—like aging, pain, and depression—scientists are also finding that those conditions don’t have to spell curtains for your sexy time. In fact, there are more ways than ever to get you in the mood. So, can cannabis help you have great sex? Read on.
Does Desire Diminish with Age?
Broadly speaking, sexual activity decreases with age, and researchers long believed that your libido would naturally ebb as you grew older. But a study just published in the medical journal Menopause throws this assumption into doubt. The study surveyed more than 24,000 British women, aged 50 to 74, about their sex lives, and 4,500 of the women also made written comments, giving researchers a trove of new insights about women’s sex lives.
One obvious reason people stop having sex is losing a partner to death or divorce, and this factor was cited by 37% of the women. But the survey revealed many other issues at play. For example, 23% of women called out their partner’s physical problems, while 11% blamed their own physical difficulties. Others put it down to a simple lack of time and energy—8% said their partner was too tired for sex; 9% said they were too exhausted.
Only 30% of women said they stopped having sex because they had lost interest; the rest would happily engage if things would change.
Stoking Your Libido
One thing that often does change with age, according to ob-gyn and sex expert Dr. Jen Gunter, is the nature of your libido. Writing in the New York Times, she says that sometimes libido is spontaneous—in that you actively seek sex. But it may also be receptive—you start your day feeling neutral, but find yourself in the mood after getting turned on in some way. As Dr. Gunter explains, “You can have a strong urge to go to a party and seek out festivities (a spontaneous libido) or need an invitation to want to go (receptive libido). Many people confuse receptive libido with a lack of libido.”
Now, as the United States emerges from the shadow of decades of prohibition, researchers are beginning to investigate the role cannabis may play in stimulating libido and boosting sexual pleasure.
Splendor in the Grass
A 2017 study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that people who reported using cannabis monthly, weekly, or daily reported slightly more frequent sex than those who never partook. But the study shed no light on whether cannabis can boost sexual pleasure. So Becky Lynn, MD, director of the Center for Sexual Health and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Saint Louis University, took matters into her own hands. “I wanted to know what women really thought,” she told Self magazine, which recently ran a major feature on sex and cannabis (highlighting 1906 Love as one product to try).
Dr. Lynn created a survey to ask about cannabis and sex—whether or not it had any effect on sex drive, orgasm, lubrication, pain, and the overall sexual experience. She received responses from nearly 400 women and turned them into studies recently presented at the World Meeting on Sexual Medicine and the annual meeting of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health—and just published in Sexual Medicine.
Nearly half of respondents said they used cannabis; they were pretty evenly split between frequent (from once a week to several times a day) and infrequent (from once a year to a few times a year) users. A significant majority of users reported that they took cannabis before sex.
Cannabis Can Help
The people who enjoyed cannabis prior to sex were more likely to report having satisfying orgasms. Interestingly, the frequent cannabis users were much more likely to say they have great orgasms—whether or not they indulged before sex or just any old time.
Another thing researchers are curious about is how the body’s own natural version of cannabinoids (called endocannabinoids) connects to sexual pleasure. According to Dr. Lynn, there is a significant number of receptors for those compounds “in areas of the brain that deal with sexual function,” such as the amygdala and hypothalamus. Other recent research suggests that 2-AG, an endocannabinoid, is released in humans after orgasm, which could mean that these compounds may be involved in normal sexual processes.
Lovin’ It
At 1906, we know that cannabis can unlock mind-bending sexual pleasure. We have handcrafted our 1906 Love chocolate to emphasize the arousing powers of cannabis—and don’t just take our word for it. Love recently scored a Cosmo Sexcellence Award, a new stamp of approval given to the best sex toys, products, services, and change makers that blew reviewers’ minds.
1906 Love uses optimal doses of five herbal aphrodisiacs and sense-enhancing cannabis and was designed to be equal opportunity, working consistently well on all genders. Love targets modern life’s common obstacles to great sex; as the above research indicates, it’s not just our bodies that have trouble getting in the mood, but our brains as well.
Love helps you relax and get out of your head while also increasing blood flow to the pelvic area (cannabis is a vasodilator, which means it opens blood vessels and increases blood flow) to boost sensation. We’ve gotten incredible raves for this product—a Cosmo writer called it “next-level howling at the moon-type magic,” and we recently got a thank-you note from a customer who said: “This was by far the best sex we have ever had in over 48 years of marriage.”
So whether your libido needs a major jolt or you just want to bump things up a notch or two, give 1906 Love a try. Let us know what you think!
Remember, you’ll start feeling Love slowly kick in at about 20 minutes, but it takes about two hours to reach peak intensity, so plan your date with Love accordingly. Then it’s time to let go and enjoy the good vibrations, no matter what the season.