A new study published by The Journal of Sex Research reports that young adults who have sex under the influence of marijuana often describe it as a tool for enhancing pleasure and connection, as well as easing anxiety and self-consciousness.
Researchers from Université du Québec à Montréal and Université de Montréal interviewed 27 participants ages 18 to 24 in Quebec, exploring why they use marijuana in sexual contexts and how gender influences those motivations. The study relied on semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, with findings interpreted using the Gender Structure Framework, which treats gender as a social structure operating at individual, interactional and broader cultural levels.
The researchers grouped motivations into three categories: transformed sexuality, facilitated sex, and contextual influences. Across those categories, participants described marijuana as changing how sex feels physically and emotionally, changing how they navigate stress and insecurity, and, for frequent users, becoming intertwined with sex in ways that are not always planned or deliberate.
In the first category—transformed sexuality—participants often described heightened sensations, stronger intimacy and a more expansive sense of sexual possibility. Many said marijuana made touch feel more intense, helped them stay in the moment, and contributed to sex that felt longer or more satisfying. Some participants also described improved arousal and a greater ability to reach orgasm, while others said the bigger change was emotional: feeling more connected, more “in sync,” or more open to trying new things with a partner.
The study’s interviews suggest that these experiences were not evenly distributed across genders. The researchers reported that cis women and gender-diverse participants more often described sensory amplification—touch, sound and bodily comfort feeling “turned up.” Cis men more commonly described motivations tied to confidence and performance, including feeling more energetic, more capable, or more willing to take initiative.
Trans men in the sample stood out in discussions of desire and arousal. Some described marijuana as making arousal feel more immediate or reliable, framing it as a way to access libido that otherwise felt muted or difficult to reach. The study links those experiences to gendered expectations about sexuality—ideas about what it means to be “ready,” “normal,” or “successful” during sex.
The second category—facilitated sex—focused less on intensifying pleasure and more on reducing barriers to it. Participants described marijuana as easing anxiety, helping them relax, and quieting intrusive thoughts that can disrupt sex. For some, it was about calming day-to-day stress and mental “noise,” including worries about school, work or interpersonal conflict. For others, it was about managing deeper distress connected to negative past experiences, including trauma.
This theme was especially pronounced among cis women in the interviews, who frequently described marijuana as helping them “let go,” stop overthinking, and become more present during sex. The study ties that pattern to gendered “mental load” pressures—expectations that women carry emotional and relational responsibilities that can spill into intimacy, leaving less space for relaxation and self-focus.
Body image and appearance expectations also emerged as a recurring motivation, especially among cis women and trans men. Some participants described marijuana as reducing self-consciousness about perceived physical flaws, lowering worry about how they looked during certain positions, or easing discomfort during practices that felt especially exposing. The researchers interpret those accounts through the lens of gender norms and beauty standards that can push women to treat sex as a performance centered on looking a certain way and pleasing a partner.
For trans participants, the “facilitated sex” theme also included marijuana’s role in easing gender dysphoria during sexual activity. Some described marijuana as reducing distress about body parts that feel incongruent with gender identity, making it easier to stay grounded in sensation rather than spiraling into dysphoric self-monitoring. In a few accounts, participants said it helped with visualization and comfort, allowing them to experience sex with less cognitive friction around gendered language or bodily focus.
The third category, contextual influences, captured a different kind of motivation: sometimes there is no clear motivation at all. Many participants said sex under the influence happened because marijuana use was already part of their evenings, social settings or everyday life. In those accounts, sex and marijuana overlapped incidentally rather than through a conscious plan to enhance sex.
Some participants described “conditioning” over time, where positive experiences of sex under the influence strengthened an association between marijuana and arousal. Others emphasized routine: if marijuana is part of a nightly wind-down, sex may occur in the same window without anyone making an intentional decision to combine the two. Participants also pointed to social contexts like parties or shared peer environments, where marijuana use can be normalized and shared with partners, shaping the atmosphere in which intimacy happens.
Overall, the study argues that conversations about marijuana and sex often skew toward risk-only framings, missing why young adults may use it intentionally: pleasure, intimacy, relaxation, exploration, and relief from stressors that otherwise block sexual well-being. At the same time, the interviews show that motivations are shaped by gendered expectations—about performance, beauty, availability, and the emotional work of intimacy—and that those pressures can influence both positive and negative uses.
The study concludes by stating:
In conclusion, this study allows for an examination of the link between cannabis use and the pursuit of pleasure in sexual contexts, and of how social and gender norms influence these behaviors. It calls for a paradigm shift: to view SUI of cannabis not only as a risk to be managed, but also as a potential space for well-being, on the condition that individuals are supported in a compassionate and informed manner. By placing pleasure, agency, and gender at the heart of its understanding of SUI, this research challenges dominant narratives and expands the conversation in the fields of sexual health and substance use. Ultimately, it urges a gender-specific reimagining of clinical, educational, and preventive practices, grounded in the lived realities, needs, and motivations of young adults, while challenging the broader social norms, stigma, and structural conditions that shape these experiences.
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