While CBD has been reportedly used to make things more comfortable during sexual intercourse, a growing number of people are using cannabis to achieve deeper intimacy and pleasure. A growing group – named ‘Cannasexuals’ by American sex counselor, Ashley Manta – are using a wide range of cannabis products to improve their sex lives, without necessarily getting high!
According to Ms. Manta, a cannasexual is anyone who mindfully and deliberately combines sex and cannabis to deepen intimacy and enhance pleasure. In the popular Vice documentary, ‘Slutever’, Karley Sciortino visits Ms. Manta in San Francisco.
When explaining her initiative, Ms. Manta said she aimed not to get others high but help them to have a better sex life.
She added: “It doesn’t have to be psychoactive. THC, the psychoactive compound of the cannabis plant, is a vasodilator, ergo it brings more blood flow into the area. It’s why your eyes are red when you’re smoking.
“So, if you put something containing THC directly on your vagina, more blood comes to the area, which means more lubrication and greater arousal and enhanced sensation.
“You are not going to feel high; just enjoy the physical benefits without having any psychoactive side effects.”
It is believed that cannabis extracts could help to increase the users’ natural lubrication, so they don’t have to use commercial lubrication. Furthermore, the documentary posed the question: Could cannabis be used as a female viagra?
During an interview with the BBC, Ashley Manta said: “There are a lot of [cannabis-derived] products designed for the vulva (the external female sex organs) like sprays and creams, because of the way the organs seem to absorb cannabinoids.
“My favourite product is the cannabis oil spray. After letting the infused oil soak into my vulva for about 20 minutes, I feel a warmth or tingling, find greater comfort with penetration, and greater ease and intensity in orgasms.”
According to a recent study carried out by Becky K Lynn et al., cannabis does appear to improve orgasm satisfaction.
They found that of the 373 participants, most women reported increases in sex drive, as well as improvement in orgasm.
Men, according to Ms. Manta, can also be benefited from using cannabis products in the bedroom.
Erectile dysfunction (ED), or impotence, is the inability to develop or maintain an erection during sexual activity. It is estimated that ED affects around 30 million men in the US and almost 12 million under 50 in the UK.
Ms. Manta told Huffington Post that she was confident cannabis oil might be a solution for men suffering from the condition.
She said: “What you’re doing with a topical with THC in it is you’re essentially making the tissue become more erect and aroused, so it’s filled with blood and oxygen and thus more susceptible to pleasurable sensations.
“Also, when there’s more blood flow, muscles are more supple, so that it’s less painful. Decreasing that painful sensation if you have that, and increasing the pleasurable sensations. And it’s local, so it doesn’t get you high.”
Although there is still not enough study around cannabis for ED, researchers found that Cannabis sativa was able to improve ejaculatory function and sexual performance.
However, others claim cannabis consumers should be careful when using the products as it can lead to uncomfortable consequences.
For example, a study by the International Society for Sexual Medicine warned that cannabis consumption, in some cases, can impose a hazardous impact on our sex life. They found that cannabis may actually have peripheral antagonizing effects on erectile function by stimulating specific receptors in the cavernous tissue.
Like everything surrounding the use of cannabis, more research is needed to fully understand the potential of cannabis a sexual stimulant. But, if the documentary ‘Slutever’ is anything to go by, many people are already enjoying what they see as the natural and effective properties of the plant.
