April 9, 2025 • 32 mins
In this eye-opening episode, Dr. Diane chats with Amanda Moser, a sexologist and cannabis researcher known for her groundbreaking nationwide study on how cannabis impacts sexual pleasure. Amanda dives into how her research dispels outdated myths about cannabis hindering men’s sexual performance. Instead, her findings reveal that both men and women report enhanced pleasure, desire, and overall satisfaction when using cannabis.
They explore why cannabis can be a powerful tool for intimacy and pleasure, how old research has led to misconceptions, and the evolving conversation about cannabis and sex in today’s world. Plus, Amanda shares her passion for bridging the gap between cannabis science and human sexuality.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Who's smoking cannabis?
Because I had a lot of people that were policeofficers, that were surgeons, that were people
in occupations that you not did not necessarilythink were smoking weed on a daily basis, if at
all.
Hi.
My name is Amanda Moser.
I am a sexologist and cannabis researcher, andI published a nationwide study on how cannabis
(00:24):
influences your sex.
Males would actually have a more difficult timeor actually an inability to achieve or maintain
an erection.
Out of eight eleven participants, we did haveclose to fiftyfifty male female.
And the males were actually saying thatcannabis made their sex better too and did not
(00:50):
negatively impact their ability to achieve anerection, maintain an erection, or have an
orgasm.
Research will compare cannabis with alcohol.
Alcohol research, it comes to the humansexuality world, shows that alcohol makes you
make choices that you would not necessarilymake specifically in sexual settings.
(01:16):
Everyone's different.
Everyone's body chemistry is different.
Everyone reacts to cannabis differently.
What might work for you and kind of where tostart?
But ultimately, there's not gonna be a one sizefits all approach for this.
You gotta take that maybe prior to your If youare smoking a joint, that hits a lot faster but
(01:43):
also kinda leaves your system faster as well.
Hey, everyone.
Before we jump into today's episode, I wannamake sure that you know about my libido quiz at
libidoquiz.com.
This is a free quiz I developed to help youidentify missing root causes of low libido.
(02:05):
When you take this quiz, you will be thengiven, you'll be sent information specific to
your quiz answers, including the top tasks thatmay help diagnose and figure out why you have
low libido that your doctor may not be orderingfor you, as well as additional tips and tricks
to support healthy libido, desire, intimacy,and so much more.
(02:29):
So you can find that at libidoquiz.com.
Hey, everybody.
Welcome back to the lounge.
I'm so excited to bring Amanda Moser on tospeak to you guys about her research.
I got introduced to her by somebody you haveheard from recently on the show, doctor Suzanne
Mulfill, who is a cannabis researcher likeAmanda.
(02:53):
And I've learned that Amanda's research hasgone on for many, many, many years now.
So I wanted to get Amanda on this show toobecause we're gonna like to spell some myths.
Like some of the things Amanda was telling meabout ahead of time around the research around,
hey, cannabis does not have to kill a man's sexdrive.
Cannabis does not have to be this thing that ismaking it difficult for a man to achieve
(03:18):
erection and all these things that we heardfrom this research that's very old and very
outdated.
So we're gonna really talk about what's goingon with the UpToDate research, the cool studies
she's been doing, and why for both female andmale alike, cannabis can be an amazing tool to
bring into your your health and your sexualpractices to really drive yourself to this
(03:43):
point where you are experiencing pleasure andjoy and connection and all the beautiful things
about intimacy on healthy steroids.
So welcome to the show, Amanda.
Hi.
Thank you for having me.
Thanks for being here.
So let's, you know, let's go back to like theorigin story, right?
So this is a pretty unique thing and and likemyself being in, you know, the sex research
(04:07):
research world, it's like some of these thingswe do are kinda taboo.
It's like they're out of mainstream.
It takes a lot more effort to get work into theworld when we choose certain things.
And you chose two things.
You chose sexuality, which is already a toughtopic, you know, with, you know, getting past
censorship and all that.
(04:27):
And then you chose cannabis, and you decided totake two of these really challenging things
from a standpoint of getting this workout tothe world, and combine them.
So what was the motivation?
How did you how'd you really get here?
Yeah.
So I remember being a young girl, and I'llnever forget, my next door neighbor had a book
(04:51):
that her mom got her.
She was about two years older than me.
So I haven't received such a book like this,but it was a book on puberty.
And they had little drawings to kindaillustrate what's gonna happen, what's going
on.
And I always remember being really fascinatedby this book.
(05:12):
And I remember my friend showed it to me aslike a joke, like, look what my mom got me,
like could you believe And I I'll never forget,I remember being like, oh my, that's actually
like really cool and I wanna know more aboutit.
But when you're young, how do you tell anybodyof like, I wanna know more about the most taboo
(05:33):
topic that a child could bring up.
So kinda started there, and then I reallythought that it was just gonna be, I don't
know, some sort of like side project.
Like, I'm gonna grow up, I'm gonna have a biggirl job, and then maybe on the side, I'll, I
don't know, read a book or write a book on thisreally cool topic.
(05:55):
And it wasn't until I got to college, and Itook what was actually only an elective course,
but it introduced me to the academic realm ofhuman sexuality.
And I I'll never forget.
I at the end of class, I went up to theprofessor, and I was like, oh my god.
This is a thing.
This is something that I've had a secretinterest in, and it was never in a sexualized
(06:22):
thought process.
It was always out of curiosity.
It was always out of knowledge seeking.
And after I talked to that professor, he trulytook me under his wing to find out he's one of
the a very prominent human sexuality professor.
Of course, little me didn't know that at thetime.
(06:42):
Right?
Obviously, it makes more sense now that wewere, you know, using his textbooks that he had
written for his class, and that how a lot ofcourses use his textbook for class.
And so anyways, you know, and that's how I gotinto human sexuality, and then it wasn't until
grad school, where I started thinking moreabout the scientific fields of cannabis, and
(07:06):
this was another evolutionary moment forAmanda, because once again, I was in a place
where I did not truly think that people didn'ttake that seriously.
Right?
Like people didn't research this.
People didn't have a job that had anything todo with the science seeking knowledge based,
(07:29):
you know, of this topic.
And it it was once again like, oh my god.
People are studying this.
People are researching this, like actualprofessionals, not just like stoners on the
street.
Right?
There were actually business professionalsstudying cannabis, and its benefits and uses.
(07:49):
So I saw an island of cannabis science.
I was on this island of human sexuality, and Iwas like, how can I make a bridge and combine
the two?
And that is how I did a nationwide study on howcannabis impacts your sex.
So what was your I'm curious,
what was your like hypothesis and thought goinginto this?
Like did you was it an initial hypothesis of,oh, yeah, there's gonna be some level of help
(08:16):
and support with human sexuality and supportwith intimacy?
Do you think, especially based upon some of theearlier studies, did you think you would
disprove that?
Or what was kind of that initial, likehypothesis and thinking around that?
So going into it, I knew anecdotally, keywordthere, that cannabis can make your sex better.
(08:41):
Word on the street said, you smoke a jointbefore having sex.
It would be mind blowing.
And then I tried to see if there was researchon it, and there wasn't.
And so someone had to step up to the plate toto scientifically see if cannabis does affect
(09:02):
your sex, and if so, in which way positively ornegatively.
I was really hoping that word on the streetswas correct, and I was really hoping that
that's what I would find, because even as justa sexologist, I very much focused on sexual
pleasure, and the orgasm inequality gap, andhow we how women are not having as pleasurable
(09:26):
sex, or having as many orgasms as our malecounterparts.
And I was out I was outraged.
So Yeah.
You know, I definitely come from a pleasurebased background, and I was hoping that word on
the street was was right, and that cannabismade sex better, and that's ultimately what I
did find.
(09:46):
So I'm curious, so is there anything that youfound in your results that was completely
shocking to you, that was just like a surpriseresult that you couldn't, you know, in some
ways, couldn't have anticipated?
Yeah.
So the very limited research that I had to basemy hypotheses off of and research questions
(10:09):
were saying that males would actually have amore difficult time, or actually an inability
to achieve or maintain an erection.
So that's kind of what I predicted my studiesto show as well.
However, I was thoroughly impressed.
I was surprised.
I was happy to show that that is notnecessarily the case.
(10:34):
Out of 811 participants, we did have close tofifty fifty male female, and the males were
actually saying that cannabis made their sexbetter too, and did not negatively impact their
ability to achieve an erection, maintain anerection, or have an orgasm.
(10:57):
Yeah.
I think that's really gonna be surprising for alot of people because I know there's, like, a
ton of bloggers online and these sorts ofthings that are writing the opposite, probably
based upon those earlier studies.
So not saying that their information was quoteunquote wrong, just that that's what happens in
science.
We get new studies out like yours, and it'slike, oh, maybe we were not right about this.
(11:18):
So I think that's gonna be a very surprisingthing.
And so offline, you had mentioned the mastersin Johnson studies and, you know, the the
masters in Johnson, it really, I think was likethe foreground for what is even still being
taught today in medical school about arousaland human sexuality is still rooted in their
(11:40):
work.
So can you tell us a little bit about theirwork and tell us a little bit about how the
study that you did, did it did it like disproveany of the the earlier work from them at all?
Yeah.
So I knew from my human sexuality backgroundsthat Masters and Johnson were, like you said,
(12:02):
pioneers in what they discovered, what theyfound, and we are still using it today.
I found it so instrumental for my research,because I took the Masters and Johnson
framework.
So looking at sexual desire, looking at orgasm.
(12:24):
Right?
And and seeing how cannabis influences each ofthose stages.
And I broke it up into not just orgasm phase,but intensity of orgasm, the ability to orgasm,
how many times you can orgasm, and see howcannabis affects that.
So then I'm curious, like, did you becausethere's, you know, cannabis is such a wide
(12:47):
world.
Right?
There's a zillion different types of strains.
Like, they're always, like, cross, you know,pollinating them.
So now there's even more strains every yearthat comes out.
It's like this really, you know, artistic thingis this becoming.
And beyond that, there's obviously a ton ofdifferent ways that we can ingest cannabis.
(13:07):
So how did you in your studies, like like,actually, say include or not include certain
strains, or you know, what was kind of theinclusion criteria around, you know, those
types of things?
Sure.
So my research was a nationwide online survey.
So you can kind of think a little bit about,you know, how I recruited, or maybe what the
(13:33):
participants did for the research.
For inclusion, you just had to be over 18 yearsold, and you just had to have used marijuana at
least once, with or without sex involved.
Because part of the Masters and Johnsonframework, and a good thing a good way that I
(13:53):
like to reframe it is it doesn't need toinvolve another person.
So when you think of masturbation, your body'sstill going through that Masters and Johnson
framework of desire and orgasm and resolutionwith or without somebody else there.
So that's also why that was not a criteria.
Yeah.
(14:13):
So like, so I was just looking
at like the strains, as well as, yeah.
So then like, when you were, you did thissurvey, I'm curious, were people reporting on
what strains they were using for the research?
Or was it more just like, hey.
Go out.
Use cannabis.
You know, answer these questions.
Report back.
And did your, you know, your research reallyfind that no matter what type of cannabis
(14:35):
people were using, that the majority found, youknow, the the improvement in their arousal, and
their orgasms, and their erections, and allthose things?
Yeah.
So it's really hard to study specific strains,because strain called Northern Lights here in
(14:55):
Denver, Colorado, is gonna be geneticallydifferent than a strain called Northern Lights
in Oregon.
So I did not wanna depend on strain type, and alot of people don't know if they're smoking a
sativa or an indica, because if you don't ifyou don't live in a legal cannabis state, then
(15:15):
you're just getting weed from Joe Schmo downthe road, and he might not always know if it's
in indica or sativa.
But what I did look at was, are you mostlysmoking flour?
Are you mostly smoking dabs?
So specifically, I looked at forms and methods.
Mhmm.
The forms being the type of cannabis, flour,dabs, edible, etcetera.
(15:38):
Method being, are you smoking it in a joint, ina pipe, in a brownie?
What does that look like?
And I can say that majority of participants didsay that they smoked cannabis daily, that they
smoked cannabis for both recreational andmedicinal purposes, that they prefer flour, and
that here's the big thing, is that it does notaffect their sexual decision making.
(16:05):
So a lot of times, research will comparecannabis with alcohol.
Right.
Alcohol research, when it comes to the humansexuality world, shows that alcohol makes you
make choices that you would not necessarilymake, specifically in sexual settings.
(16:26):
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(17:10):
So for instance, you might not be worried aboutSTIs or protection for that.
Same with birth control.
Right?
Same with maybe who you are engaging with.
That's for alcohol.
And for cannabis, we have found that it doesnot affect their sexual decision making.
They are still wearing condoms to protectagainst pregnancy or STIs.
(17:34):
They are knowing who to, who they are havingsex with.
Right?
They're not blacking out.
And if anything, it was showing that they arehaving more increased intimacy with these
sexual connections, instead of blackout drunksex that was someone you don't even remember.
That was not the case at all.
(17:54):
That's a really, really, really cool findingthat, you know, that people are going to be
altered in the state, but be altered in a waythat, hey, they're gonna make the same
decisions whether or not they get high.
You know?
And I think that's a really importantdistinction.
So then I hear you on most people who are usingflour.
Were you did you find that other methods ofingesting cannabis, like edibles or like
(18:18):
dabbing, like you mentioned, were they stillgetting relatively the same results or just
wasn't as many people using thosemethodologies?
Or did you see any differentiation in theresults depending upon, like, that type of
delivery method?
That data has not been published.
Okay.
(18:39):
Are you going to publish it, or who knows?
You know, off the record, I have collected somuch data that I, and from so many
participants, that I could have so many, like,spin off studies from you.
Right.
Right?
So, like, we at one point were talking about,let's just do a demographic, study on seeing
(19:05):
who's smoking cannabis, because I had a lot ofpeople that were police officers, that were
surgeons, that were people in occupations thatyou not did not necessarily, think were smoking
weed, on a daily basis, if at all.
Right?
There was another finding that we saw.
We had a large population of just people overthe 65.
(19:30):
So we actually also talked about doing a spinoff study on gerontology, and how cannabis
affects that population.
I can tell you that we looked at the differentforms and methods, but none of it was
scientifically significant Sure.
To report on.
Yeah.
(19:51):
Yeah.
And when I hear that, and, you know, for Ithink for our listeners, it's like to me that
just says like, you know, this is somethingthat you're interested in trying, then you can
be open to the different ways of the deliverysystem, and see how they impact you.
Because that's another thing that I've seen inthe, you know, these various methodologies is
they do affect each every individual'sdifferent.
(20:13):
So, you know, my my hypothesis if you ran thatdata would be finding that, you know, one
person say, oh, yeah, edibles work best forthis.
And another person's gonna say, oh, yeah,smoking a joint works best for this.
That's my personal hypothesis because I justthink we are so wired so differently and and
medications affect us in a unique way.
So that's what I would say to our listeners onthat.
(20:36):
Now Absolutely correct.
Mean Yeah.
When I talk to individuals or couples, whoever,on how can they utilize cannabis in the
bedroom, with the best way.
Right?
Like, people come to me and say, what's what'sthe number one thing?
And unfortunately, it does base on person toperson.
(20:58):
Everyone's different.
Everyone's body chemistry different.
Everyone reacts to cannabis differently.
I can tell you that there are some tips andtricks for utilizing cannabis, and things that
I have definitely, helped teach people on whatmight work for you, and kind of where to start.
(21:19):
But ultimately, there's not gonna be a one sizefits all approach for this.
Yeah.
That makes perfect sense to me.
I wanna ask you, my next question is kindagrounded in one of the things I have talked
about on this show before is the libido code.
And the libido code, which you guys can find atlibidocode.com, is a is a methodology of
(21:42):
actually analyzing for what your unique turnodds and turn offs are.
And one of the five different archetypes thatwhen you take the libido code quiz that people
will get is a send what I call a sensei.
So the sensei is the the type of person that isreally turned on by the five senses.
(22:03):
So this is the type of person that, you know,might be making out, and they're gonna maybe
interrupt the make out section to go put ontheir fur perfect music and get the light
lighting right because not because they'retrying to interrupt the moment, because they
know so much that this is going to enhancetheir experience.
Right?
And so one of the things you had said offline,Amanda, was in some of your research that you
(22:25):
had found that that there was an impact on thefive senses, and it studied some about that.
And so in my mind, I'm like, oh, this would be,you know, useful for everybody, but especially
useful for those that have taken the libidocode quiz and actually have realized that, oh,
I'm a sensate.
So can you tell us a little bit more about whatyou learned around cannabis and its impact on
(22:48):
the five senses?
Yeah.
So my research looked at three main umbrellas,we can call them.
So we looked at how cannabis affects yoursexual functioning, how it affects your sexual
satisfaction, and how it affects yoursensuality.
Because my thought process was was that you useyour senses a lot during sex.
(23:15):
And if that's the case, let's see how cannabisimpacts that.
So I found that cannabis positively increasesyour taste and your touch.
Which, if you think about, I think are probablythe two main senses that you might use during
(23:37):
sex.
So I thought this was really, really exciting,because if you think about it, if you are
engaging in cannabis before sex, and your tastegets enhanced, well, you know, your partner
might really like that, as well as you wouldtoo.
And then same for touch.
Like, people reported saying that when they aretouched, it's a it's a lot more electrifying,
(24:04):
and it feels more intimate, and there's more ofthat emotional connection.
And so it's really exciting to show thatcannabis does increase your taste and your
touch.
I'm curious too because I, you know, when Ithink about cannabis and pleasure.
Right?
I think that so many so much of the time withsex, especially for women, but but for men too,
(24:25):
so much of the time though I think with sex,it's easy for the mind to wander.
Right?
Like and that's something people have heard mesay repeatedly on this show is, like, the
capacity to experience pleasure is related tothe capacity to be present.
And so it's so easy, right, for the mind andthe busyness and the overwhelm of our first
world life that we have here in The UnitedStates.
(24:47):
It's so easy for the mind to, like, wander tothe grocery list or whatever else that we
really, really don't wanna be thinking aboutduring our pleasure intimate moment.
So did you, you know, did you study at all too?
Because I'm thinking when, okay, we'reexperiencing that touch.
Right?
That tactile sensation and cannabis is helpingwith that.
In my mind, one of the methodologies behindwhat could be happening there is that cannabis
(25:13):
can help us maybe just be a little bit morepresent in the moment.
So then that, like, that touch that washappening, our mind is more focused on that
versus, hey, I'm all over the place.
So did you do you think there's anything likethat going on?
Like, do you can you comment at all based uponwhat you've you've studied?
Absolutely.
I think that there are different components.
(25:35):
I think there's a mental component, and then aphysiological component that both could be
potential answers to your question.
For mentally, yes, I agree that I did haveparticipants state that cannabis helps them be
in the moment is the big quote that I keptseeing.
(25:55):
They they feel like they are not absent minded.
They are very much present right there in themoment.
But then you look on a physiological level, andwe also know that cannabis is a vasodilator.
So with that, that could also theoreticallymaybe impact touch, and how it might feel a
(26:17):
little more electrifying, but also why youmight get more turned on with cannabis, because
your genitals have, a lot of blood flow, andwhen you incorporate a vasodilator, that is,
you know, that is best case scenario for a lotof people for ultimate pleasure and
satisfaction.
(26:38):
So there's different ways to look at it.
And did you find anything as far as thentiming?
Because when you're bringing up vasodilator,then I'm like, oh, yeah.
Great.
That's like the blood flow you're saying.
That's an erection for men.
That's all the, you know, erogenous zones thatwe need blood flow as women too.
So all of those are getting their circulation.
Did you find that people reported that timingmattered at all?
(27:00):
Like, oh, it's important to, you know, startdoing this twenty minutes before we wanna be
intimate, or was that not really part of it atall?
The big thing with that is dependent on whichform and or method you're using.
Right?
So if you are wanting to use an inedible toenhance your sexual pleasure, you gotta take
(27:22):
that maybe an hour or two prior to your sexualengagement.
If you are smoking a joint, that hits a lotfaster, but also kinda leaves your system
faster as well.
But I also love to advocate for if both you andyour partner want to use cannabis to enhance
(27:44):
both of your sex, I I think it's a great timefor foreplay to incorporate cannabis into the
act foreplay.
I think foreplay is so underrated, and morepeople need to be excited about foreplay
instead of thinking of it as like a chore.
And I really think that incorporating cannabisinto your foreplay can really spice things up a
(28:08):
little bit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's I think foreplay is absolutely one of themost underrated parts about, and and even some
of the surveys have shown that the averageamount of time that women and men are having
foreplay is between four to seven minutes, andthat that the average amount of time that men
want foreplay is eighteen minutes, and womenwant foreplay is nineteen minutes.
(28:31):
So everybody is feeling like we're just notgetting enough of, you know, of this of this
foreplay.
So I think it's a really good point.
Is there anything that we have not coveredtoday about your research, about everything
that you're doing in, you know, with thisresearch in the world, about your discoveries,
that you feel like, oh, we've got to say thistoday.
(28:53):
I can just do a quick recap on what we Sure.
Just in case I missed anything.
So I did find we're gonna start with sexualdesire.
That is, you know, how much you want sex.
How how bad do you want it?
Are you aroused?
Are you gonna be aroused in the near future?
And I did find that cannabis does increase yoursexual desires, so you want to have sex more.
(29:18):
It also increased your ability to orgasm.
So achieving orgasm was much easier for a lotof people.
And when you did orgasm, I found that cannabisactually increases that intensity.
So not only are you more likely to orgasm, butwhen you do, it's gonna be much stronger, and a
lot of people say full bodied.
(29:40):
Then we also look at orgasm frequency.
How many times are you able orgasm in one sitin one sitting, one sitting, I did find that
cannabis does increase orgasm frequency.
So people are having multiple orgasms,specifically women or those with vulvas.
(30:00):
So also talking about how the sexualfunctioning, those stages and phases happen
whether or not you're with a partner, and thatdid show with my results that you also have
increased pleasure while masturbating.
So that's great.
We don't even need somebody else.
We can have the same amount of pleasure justfrom ourselves.
(30:22):
For males and erections, we did talk about howcannabis did not show any inability to achieve
or maintain an erection, quite the opposite.
They were able to have an erection, hold anerection, and orgasm with just as much
intensity as women.
Females did not necessarily have a change inlubrication.
(30:45):
I was actually very surprised about this,because you think of cannabis as making you
have cotton mouth, as the stoners like to say,or rye mouth.
Right?
So I thought, well, if cannabis makes yourmouth dry, it might make me down dry, you know,
it make me dry down there too.
(31:08):
And that was not the case.
So that was another thing that I was pleasantlysurprised to see.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Great synopsis and really great research.
I really appreciate you bringing this to theworld.
Can we put a link to your study in the shownotes?
Is that is that possible?
Amazing.
Amazing.
Yeah.
We'll we'll put that, you guys, in the shownotes study from Amanda so you guys can read
(31:32):
through these, you know, all of these stats andall this information if you guys are
interested.
And thank you so much.
Thank you so much for being here.
Thank you for this amazing work you're doing inthe world.
It's I love when, like, old past research getsdebunked and we get to, you know, be on top
with the latest things, and think you did areally great job debunking those things and and
(31:53):
looking at this.
So thank you so much for all of that and forbringing this to us today.
I really appreciate you.
Thank you.
And thanks again for having me.
It's been a lot of fun.
Yeah.
It's totally a pleasure.
And thanks everybody for listening to anotherepisode on The Lounge.
Please don't keep this a secret.
Please share this with your friends and yourfamily because we gotta get the word out there.
(32:14):
Alright, everybody.
We'll see you on another episode.
Ciao for now.
Thank you for listening to the Libido Lounge.
Please don't keep me a secret.
Please share this with your friends.
You can find me on YouTube, on Instagram, aswell as how to work with me at MyLibidoDoc.com
Who's smoking cannabis?
Because I had a lot of people that were policeofficers, that were surgeons, that were people
in occupations that you not did not necessarilythink were smoking weed on a daily basis, if at
all.
Hi.
My name is Amanda Moser.
I am a sexologist and cannabis researcher, andI published a nationwide study on how cannabis
(00:24):
influences your sex.
Males would actually have a more difficult timeor actually an inability to achieve or maintain
an erection.
Out of eight eleven participants, we did haveclose to fiftyfifty male female.
And the males were actually saying thatcannabis made their sex better too and did not
(00:50):
negatively impact their ability to achieve anerection, maintain an erection, or have an
orgasm.
Research will compare cannabis with alcohol.
Alcohol research, it comes to the humansexuality world, shows that alcohol makes you
make choices that you would not necessarilymake specifically in sexual settings.
(01:16):
Everyone's different.
Everyone's body chemistry is different.
Everyone reacts to cannabis differently.
What might work for you and kind of where tostart?
But ultimately, there's not gonna be a one sizefits all approach for this.
You gotta take that maybe prior to your If youare smoking a joint, that hits a lot faster but
(01:43):
also kinda leaves your system faster as well.
Hey, everyone.
Before we jump into today's episode, I wannamake sure that you know about my libido quiz at
libidoquiz.com.
This is a free quiz I developed to help youidentify missing root causes of low libido.
(02:05):
When you take this quiz, you will be thengiven, you'll be sent information specific to
your quiz answers, including the top tasks thatmay help diagnose and figure out why you have
low libido that your doctor may not be orderingfor you, as well as additional tips and tricks
to support healthy libido, desire, intimacy,and so much more.
(02:29):
So you can find that at libidoquiz.com.
Hey, everybody.
Welcome back to the lounge.
I'm so excited to bring Amanda Moser on tospeak to you guys about her research.
I got introduced to her by somebody you haveheard from recently on the show, doctor Suzanne
Mulfill, who is a cannabis researcher likeAmanda.
(02:53):
And I've learned that Amanda's research hasgone on for many, many, many years now.
So I wanted to get Amanda on this show toobecause we're gonna like to spell some myths.
Like some of the things Amanda was telling meabout ahead of time around the research around,
hey, cannabis does not have to kill a man's sexdrive.
Cannabis does not have to be this thing that ismaking it difficult for a man to achieve
(03:18):
erection and all these things that we heardfrom this research that's very old and very
outdated.
So we're gonna really talk about what's goingon with the UpToDate research, the cool studies
she's been doing, and why for both female andmale alike, cannabis can be an amazing tool to
bring into your your health and your sexualpractices to really drive yourself to this
(03:43):
point where you are experiencing pleasure andjoy and connection and all the beautiful things
about intimacy on healthy steroids.
So welcome to the show, Amanda.
Hi.
Thank you for having me.
Thanks for being here.
So let's, you know, let's go back to like theorigin story, right?
So this is a pretty unique thing and and likemyself being in, you know, the sex research
(04:07):
research world, it's like some of these thingswe do are kinda taboo.
It's like they're out of mainstream.
It takes a lot more effort to get work into theworld when we choose certain things.
And you chose two things.
You chose sexuality, which is already a toughtopic, you know, with, you know, getting past
censorship and all that.
(04:27):
And then you chose cannabis, and you decided totake two of these really challenging things
from a standpoint of getting this workout tothe world, and combine them.
So what was the motivation?
How did you how'd you really get here?
Yeah.
So I remember being a young girl, and I'llnever forget, my next door neighbor had a book
(04:51):
that her mom got her.
She was about two years older than me.
So I haven't received such a book like this,but it was a book on puberty.
And they had little drawings to kindaillustrate what's gonna happen, what's going
on.
And I always remember being really fascinatedby this book.
(05:12):
And I remember my friend showed it to me aslike a joke, like, look what my mom got me,
like could you believe And I I'll never forget,I remember being like, oh my, that's actually
like really cool and I wanna know more aboutit.
But when you're young, how do you tell anybodyof like, I wanna know more about the most taboo
(05:33):
topic that a child could bring up.
So kinda started there, and then I reallythought that it was just gonna be, I don't
know, some sort of like side project.
Like, I'm gonna grow up, I'm gonna have a biggirl job, and then maybe on the side, I'll, I
don't know, read a book or write a book on thisreally cool topic.
(05:55):
And it wasn't until I got to college, and Itook what was actually only an elective course,
but it introduced me to the academic realm ofhuman sexuality.
And I I'll never forget.
I at the end of class, I went up to theprofessor, and I was like, oh my god.
This is a thing.
This is something that I've had a secretinterest in, and it was never in a sexualized
(06:22):
thought process.
It was always out of curiosity.
It was always out of knowledge seeking.
And after I talked to that professor, he trulytook me under his wing to find out he's one of
the a very prominent human sexuality professor.
Of course, little me didn't know that at thetime.
(06:42):
Right?
Obviously, it makes more sense now that wewere, you know, using his textbooks that he had
written for his class, and that how a lot ofcourses use his textbook for class.
And so anyways, you know, and that's how I gotinto human sexuality, and then it wasn't until
grad school, where I started thinking moreabout the scientific fields of cannabis, and
(07:06):
this was another evolutionary moment forAmanda, because once again, I was in a place
where I did not truly think that people didn'ttake that seriously.
Right?
Like people didn't research this.
People didn't have a job that had anything todo with the science seeking knowledge based,
(07:29):
you know, of this topic.
And it it was once again like, oh my god.
People are studying this.
People are researching this, like actualprofessionals, not just like stoners on the
street.
Right?
There were actually business professionalsstudying cannabis, and its benefits and uses.
(07:49):
So I saw an island of cannabis science.
I was on this island of human sexuality, and Iwas like, how can I make a bridge and combine
the two?
And that is how I did a nationwide study on howcannabis impacts your sex.
So what was your I'm curious,
what was your like hypothesis and thought goinginto this?
Like did you was it an initial hypothesis of,oh, yeah, there's gonna be some level of help
(08:16):
and support with human sexuality and supportwith intimacy?
Do you think, especially based upon some of theearlier studies, did you think you would
disprove that?
Or what was kind of that initial, likehypothesis and thinking around that?
So going into it, I knew anecdotally, keywordthere, that cannabis can make your sex better.
(08:41):
Word on the street said, you smoke a jointbefore having sex.
It would be mind blowing.
And then I tried to see if there was researchon it, and there wasn't.
And so someone had to step up to the plate toto scientifically see if cannabis does affect
(09:02):
your sex, and if so, in which way positively ornegatively.
I was really hoping that word on the streetswas correct, and I was really hoping that
that's what I would find, because even as justa sexologist, I very much focused on sexual
pleasure, and the orgasm inequality gap, andhow we how women are not having as pleasurable
(09:26):
sex, or having as many orgasms as our malecounterparts.
And I was out I was outraged.
So Yeah.
You know, I definitely come from a pleasurebased background, and I was hoping that word on
the street was was right, and that cannabismade sex better, and that's ultimately what I
did find.
(09:46):
So I'm curious, so is there anything that youfound in your results that was completely
shocking to you, that was just like a surpriseresult that you couldn't, you know, in some
ways, couldn't have anticipated?
Yeah.
So the very limited research that I had to basemy hypotheses off of and research questions
(10:09):
were saying that males would actually have amore difficult time, or actually an inability
to achieve or maintain an erection.
So that's kind of what I predicted my studiesto show as well.
However, I was thoroughly impressed.
I was surprised.
I was happy to show that that is notnecessarily the case.
(10:34):
Out of 811 participants, we did have close tofifty fifty male female, and the males were
actually saying that cannabis made their sexbetter too, and did not negatively impact their
ability to achieve an erection, maintain anerection, or have an orgasm.
(10:57):
Yeah.
I think that's really gonna be surprising for alot of people because I know there's, like, a
ton of bloggers online and these sorts ofthings that are writing the opposite, probably
based upon those earlier studies.
So not saying that their information was quoteunquote wrong, just that that's what happens in
science.
We get new studies out like yours, and it'slike, oh, maybe we were not right about this.
(11:18):
So I think that's gonna be a very surprisingthing.
And so offline, you had mentioned the mastersin Johnson studies and, you know, the the
masters in Johnson, it really, I think was likethe foreground for what is even still being
taught today in medical school about arousaland human sexuality is still rooted in their
(11:40):
work.
So can you tell us a little bit about theirwork and tell us a little bit about how the
study that you did, did it did it like disproveany of the the earlier work from them at all?
Yeah.
So I knew from my human sexuality backgroundsthat Masters and Johnson were, like you said,
(12:02):
pioneers in what they discovered, what theyfound, and we are still using it today.
I found it so instrumental for my research,because I took the Masters and Johnson
framework.
So looking at sexual desire, looking at orgasm.
(12:24):
Right?
And and seeing how cannabis influences each ofthose stages.
And I broke it up into not just orgasm phase,but intensity of orgasm, the ability to orgasm,
how many times you can orgasm, and see howcannabis affects that.
So then I'm curious, like, did you becausethere's, you know, cannabis is such a wide
(12:47):
world.
Right?
There's a zillion different types of strains.
Like, they're always, like, cross, you know,pollinating them.
So now there's even more strains every yearthat comes out.
It's like this really, you know, artistic thingis this becoming.
And beyond that, there's obviously a ton ofdifferent ways that we can ingest cannabis.
(13:07):
So how did you in your studies, like like,actually, say include or not include certain
strains, or you know, what was kind of theinclusion criteria around, you know, those
types of things?
Sure.
So my research was a nationwide online survey.
So you can kind of think a little bit about,you know, how I recruited, or maybe what the
(13:33):
participants did for the research.
For inclusion, you just had to be over 18 yearsold, and you just had to have used marijuana at
least once, with or without sex involved.
Because part of the Masters and Johnsonframework, and a good thing a good way that I
(13:53):
like to reframe it is it doesn't need toinvolve another person.
So when you think of masturbation, your body'sstill going through that Masters and Johnson
framework of desire and orgasm and resolutionwith or without somebody else there.
So that's also why that was not a criteria.
Yeah.
(14:13):
So like, so I was just looking
at like the strains, as well as, yeah.
So then like, when you were, you did thissurvey, I'm curious, were people reporting on
what strains they were using for the research?
Or was it more just like, hey.
Go out.
Use cannabis.
You know, answer these questions.
Report back.
And did your, you know, your research reallyfind that no matter what type of cannabis
(14:35):
people were using, that the majority found, youknow, the the improvement in their arousal, and
their orgasms, and their erections, and allthose things?
Yeah.
So it's really hard to study specific strains,because strain called Northern Lights here in
(14:55):
Denver, Colorado, is gonna be geneticallydifferent than a strain called Northern Lights
in Oregon.
So I did not wanna depend on strain type, and alot of people don't know if they're smoking a
sativa or an indica, because if you don't ifyou don't live in a legal cannabis state, then
(15:15):
you're just getting weed from Joe Schmo downthe road, and he might not always know if it's
in indica or sativa.
But what I did look at was, are you mostlysmoking flour?
Are you mostly smoking dabs?
So specifically, I looked at forms and methods.
Mhmm.
The forms being the type of cannabis, flour,dabs, edible, etcetera.
(15:38):
Method being, are you smoking it in a joint, ina pipe, in a brownie?
What does that look like?
And I can say that majority of participants didsay that they smoked cannabis daily, that they
smoked cannabis for both recreational andmedicinal purposes, that they prefer flour, and
that here's the big thing, is that it does notaffect their sexual decision making.
(16:05):
So a lot of times, research will comparecannabis with alcohol.
Right.
Alcohol research, when it comes to the humansexuality world, shows that alcohol makes you
make choices that you would not necessarilymake, specifically in sexual settings.
(16:26):
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(16:49):
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(17:10):
So for instance, you might not be worried aboutSTIs or protection for that.
Same with birth control.
Right?
Same with maybe who you are engaging with.
That's for alcohol.
And for cannabis, we have found that it doesnot affect their sexual decision making.
They are still wearing condoms to protectagainst pregnancy or STIs.
(17:34):
They are knowing who to, who they are havingsex with.
Right?
They're not blacking out.
And if anything, it was showing that they arehaving more increased intimacy with these
sexual connections, instead of blackout drunksex that was someone you don't even remember.
That was not the case at all.
(17:54):
That's a really, really, really cool findingthat, you know, that people are going to be
altered in the state, but be altered in a waythat, hey, they're gonna make the same
decisions whether or not they get high.
You know?
And I think that's a really importantdistinction.
So then I hear you on most people who are usingflour.
Were you did you find that other methods ofingesting cannabis, like edibles or like
(18:18):
dabbing, like you mentioned, were they stillgetting relatively the same results or just
wasn't as many people using thosemethodologies?
Or did you see any differentiation in theresults depending upon, like, that type of
delivery method?
That data has not been published.
Okay.
(18:39):
Are you going to publish it, or who knows?
You know, off the record, I have collected somuch data that I, and from so many
participants, that I could have so many, like,spin off studies from you.
Right.
Right?
So, like, we at one point were talking about,let's just do a demographic, study on seeing
(19:05):
who's smoking cannabis, because I had a lot ofpeople that were police officers, that were
surgeons, that were people in occupations thatyou not did not necessarily, think were smoking
weed, on a daily basis, if at all.
Right?
There was another finding that we saw.
We had a large population of just people overthe 65.
(19:30):
So we actually also talked about doing a spinoff study on gerontology, and how cannabis
affects that population.
I can tell you that we looked at the differentforms and methods, but none of it was
scientifically significant Sure.
To report on.
Yeah.
(19:51):
Yeah.
And when I hear that, and, you know, for Ithink for our listeners, it's like to me that
just says like, you know, this is somethingthat you're interested in trying, then you can
be open to the different ways of the deliverysystem, and see how they impact you.
Because that's another thing that I've seen inthe, you know, these various methodologies is
they do affect each every individual'sdifferent.
(20:13):
So, you know, my my hypothesis if you ran thatdata would be finding that, you know, one
person say, oh, yeah, edibles work best forthis.
And another person's gonna say, oh, yeah,smoking a joint works best for this.
That's my personal hypothesis because I justthink we are so wired so differently and and
medications affect us in a unique way.
So that's what I would say to our listeners onthat.
(20:36):
Now Absolutely correct.
Mean Yeah.
When I talk to individuals or couples, whoever,on how can they utilize cannabis in the
bedroom, with the best way.
Right?
Like, people come to me and say, what's what'sthe number one thing?
And unfortunately, it does base on person toperson.
(20:58):
Everyone's different.
Everyone's body chemistry different.
Everyone reacts to cannabis differently.
I can tell you that there are some tips andtricks for utilizing cannabis, and things that
I have definitely, helped teach people on whatmight work for you, and kind of where to start.
(21:19):
But ultimately, there's not gonna be a one sizefits all approach for this.
Yeah.
That makes perfect sense to me.
I wanna ask you, my next question is kindagrounded in one of the things I have talked
about on this show before is the libido code.
And the libido code, which you guys can find atlibidocode.com, is a is a methodology of
(21:42):
actually analyzing for what your unique turnodds and turn offs are.
And one of the five different archetypes thatwhen you take the libido code quiz that people
will get is a send what I call a sensei.
So the sensei is the the type of person that isreally turned on by the five senses.
(22:03):
So this is the type of person that, you know,might be making out, and they're gonna maybe
interrupt the make out section to go put ontheir fur perfect music and get the light
lighting right because not because they'retrying to interrupt the moment, because they
know so much that this is going to enhancetheir experience.
Right?
And so one of the things you had said offline,Amanda, was in some of your research that you
(22:25):
had found that that there was an impact on thefive senses, and it studied some about that.
And so in my mind, I'm like, oh, this would be,you know, useful for everybody, but especially
useful for those that have taken the libidocode quiz and actually have realized that, oh,
I'm a sensate.
So can you tell us a little bit more about whatyou learned around cannabis and its impact on
(22:48):
the five senses?
Yeah.
So my research looked at three main umbrellas,we can call them.
So we looked at how cannabis affects yoursexual functioning, how it affects your sexual
satisfaction, and how it affects yoursensuality.
Because my thought process was was that you useyour senses a lot during sex.
(23:15):
And if that's the case, let's see how cannabisimpacts that.
So I found that cannabis positively increasesyour taste and your touch.
Which, if you think about, I think are probablythe two main senses that you might use during
(23:37):
sex.
So I thought this was really, really exciting,because if you think about it, if you are
engaging in cannabis before sex, and your tastegets enhanced, well, you know, your partner
might really like that, as well as you wouldtoo.
And then same for touch.
Like, people reported saying that when they aretouched, it's a it's a lot more electrifying,
(24:04):
and it feels more intimate, and there's more ofthat emotional connection.
And so it's really exciting to show thatcannabis does increase your taste and your
touch.
I'm curious too because I, you know, when Ithink about cannabis and pleasure.
Right?
I think that so many so much of the time withsex, especially for women, but but for men too,
(24:25):
so much of the time though I think with sex,it's easy for the mind to wander.
Right?
Like and that's something people have heard mesay repeatedly on this show is, like, the
capacity to experience pleasure is related tothe capacity to be present.
And so it's so easy, right, for the mind andthe busyness and the overwhelm of our first
world life that we have here in The UnitedStates.
(24:47):
It's so easy for the mind to, like, wander tothe grocery list or whatever else that we
really, really don't wanna be thinking aboutduring our pleasure intimate moment.
So did you, you know, did you study at all too?
Because I'm thinking when, okay, we'reexperiencing that touch.
Right?
That tactile sensation and cannabis is helpingwith that.
In my mind, one of the methodologies behindwhat could be happening there is that cannabis
(25:13):
can help us maybe just be a little bit morepresent in the moment.
So then that, like, that touch that washappening, our mind is more focused on that
versus, hey, I'm all over the place.
So did you do you think there's anything likethat going on?
Like, do you can you comment at all based uponwhat you've you've studied?
Absolutely.
I think that there are different components.
(25:35):
I think there's a mental component, and then aphysiological component that both could be
potential answers to your question.
For mentally, yes, I agree that I did haveparticipants state that cannabis helps them be
in the moment is the big quote that I keptseeing.
(25:55):
They they feel like they are not absent minded.
They are very much present right there in themoment.
But then you look on a physiological level, andwe also know that cannabis is a vasodilator.
So with that, that could also theoreticallymaybe impact touch, and how it might feel a
(26:17):
little more electrifying, but also why youmight get more turned on with cannabis, because
your genitals have, a lot of blood flow, andwhen you incorporate a vasodilator, that is,
you know, that is best case scenario for a lotof people for ultimate pleasure and
satisfaction.
(26:38):
So there's different ways to look at it.
And did you find anything as far as thentiming?
Because when you're bringing up vasodilator,then I'm like, oh, yeah.
Great.
That's like the blood flow you're saying.
That's an erection for men.
That's all the, you know, erogenous zones thatwe need blood flow as women too.
So all of those are getting their circulation.
Did you find that people reported that timingmattered at all?
(27:00):
Like, oh, it's important to, you know, startdoing this twenty minutes before we wanna be
intimate, or was that not really part of it atall?
The big thing with that is dependent on whichform and or method you're using.
Right?
So if you are wanting to use an inedible toenhance your sexual pleasure, you gotta take
(27:22):
that maybe an hour or two prior to your sexualengagement.
If you are smoking a joint, that hits a lotfaster, but also kinda leaves your system
faster as well.
But I also love to advocate for if both you andyour partner want to use cannabis to enhance
(27:44):
both of your sex, I I think it's a great timefor foreplay to incorporate cannabis into the
act foreplay.
I think foreplay is so underrated, and morepeople need to be excited about foreplay
instead of thinking of it as like a chore.
And I really think that incorporating cannabisinto your foreplay can really spice things up a
(28:08):
little bit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's I think foreplay is absolutely one of themost underrated parts about, and and even some
of the surveys have shown that the averageamount of time that women and men are having
foreplay is between four to seven minutes, andthat that the average amount of time that men
want foreplay is eighteen minutes, and womenwant foreplay is nineteen minutes.
(28:31):
So everybody is feeling like we're just notgetting enough of, you know, of this of this
foreplay.
So I think it's a really good point.
Is there anything that we have not coveredtoday about your research, about everything
that you're doing in, you know, with thisresearch in the world, about your discoveries,
that you feel like, oh, we've got to say thistoday.
(28:53):
I can just do a quick recap on what we Sure.
Just in case I missed anything.
So I did find we're gonna start with sexualdesire.
That is, you know, how much you want sex.
How how bad do you want it?
Are you aroused?
Are you gonna be aroused in the near future?
And I did find that cannabis does increase yoursexual desires, so you want to have sex more.
(29:18):
It also increased your ability to orgasm.
So achieving orgasm was much easier for a lotof people.
And when you did orgasm, I found that cannabisactually increases that intensity.
So not only are you more likely to orgasm, butwhen you do, it's gonna be much stronger, and a
lot of people say full bodied.
(29:40):
Then we also look at orgasm frequency.
How many times are you able orgasm in one sitin one sitting, one sitting, I did find that
cannabis does increase orgasm frequency.
So people are having multiple orgasms,specifically women or those with vulvas.
(30:00):
So also talking about how the sexualfunctioning, those stages and phases happen
whether or not you're with a partner, and thatdid show with my results that you also have
increased pleasure while masturbating.
So that's great.
We don't even need somebody else.
We can have the same amount of pleasure justfrom ourselves.
(30:22):
For males and erections, we did talk about howcannabis did not show any inability to achieve
or maintain an erection, quite the opposite.
They were able to have an erection, hold anerection, and orgasm with just as much
intensity as women.
Females did not necessarily have a change inlubrication.
(30:45):
I was actually very surprised about this,because you think of cannabis as making you
have cotton mouth, as the stoners like to say,or rye mouth.
Right?
So I thought, well, if cannabis makes yourmouth dry, it might make me down dry, you know,
it make me dry down there too.
(31:08):
And that was not the case.
So that was another thing that I was pleasantlysurprised to see.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Great synopsis and really great research.
I really appreciate you bringing this to theworld.
Can we put a link to your study in the shownotes?
Is that is that possible?
Amazing.
Amazing.
Yeah.
We'll we'll put that, you guys, in the shownotes study from Amanda so you guys can read
(31:32):
through these, you know, all of these stats andall this information if you guys are
interested.
And thank you so much.
Thank you so much for being here.
Thank you for this amazing work you're doing inthe world.
It's I love when, like, old past research getsdebunked and we get to, you know, be on top
with the latest things, and think you did areally great job debunking those things and and
(31:53):
looking at this.
So thank you so much for all of that and forbringing this to us today.
I really appreciate you.
Thank you.
And thanks again for having me.
It's been a lot of fun.
Yeah.
It's totally a pleasure.
And thanks everybody for listening to anotherepisode on The Lounge.
Please don't keep this a secret.
Please share this with your friends and yourfamily because we gotta get the word out there.
(32:14):
Alright, everybody.
We'll see you on another episode.
Ciao for now.
Thank you for listening to the Libido Lounge.
Please don't keep me a secret.
Please share this with your friends.
You can find me on YouTube, on Instagram, aswell as how to work with me at MyLibidoDoc.com
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