Some Women Are Using Weed to Have Better Sex

Studies suggest women are using marijuana as a libido enhancer. Does it work?

Keren Landman, MD
Elemental

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An illustration of three women surrounded by the cannabis plant all around them.
Illustration: Felicity Marshall

WWhen Becky Lynn got a call from a California police station that her teenage daughter was in a car accident, she ran out of the house in the clothes she had on: tie-dye shorts and a T-shirt emblazoned with the modern portmanteau, “Cannaboss.” Both were souvenirs from April’s National Cannabis Festival, where Lynn, a gynecologist specializing in sexual medicine, appeared on one of the panels interweaved with yoga classes in the festival’s wellness pavilion.

Her daughter was mortified by her getup, but otherwise fine. And while Lynn wasn’t worried about the medicolegal consequences of appearing in marijuana merch in public — especially in a state where it’s legal — she understood her daughter’s chagrin.

“It’s so not me,” she says. “I’m a physician, I’m a scientist — I’m not a stoner. But I dunno — your teenager is always going to be embarrassed by you.”

While she may not use marijuana herself, Lynn has a keen interest in how cannabis might help the women she sees in her St. Louis, Missouri office. Her interest was first piqued when several women confided to her that they used marijuana to improve their libido, and that they believe it helps them achieve otherwise…

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Keren Landman, MD
Elemental

Infectious disease doctor | Epidemiologist | Journalist | Health disparities, HIV/STDs, LGBTQ care, et al. | kerenlandman.com.