A doctor weighs marijuana in the bedroom

Science and data have made it clear that marijuana has some medical benefits. More research needs to be done, but cannabis has been used as medicine for 1,000 years. One area that is still being explored is the bedroom. the most common sexual disorder in men under 40, affecting 30-70% of men in the United States to some degree. A doctor looks at marijuana in the bedroom and how it can help.

All of us in sexual medicine are asked about premature ejaculation, its causes and treatment options. It is an embarrassing topic for many men and is therefore not often discussed among friends. Those of us in healthcare are open to discussion, but we have not made significant improvements in our treatments for many years.

Premature ejaculation may be underreported, but estimates put it at up to 30 percent of those affected. Essentially, this means that men experience ejaculation within a minute of penetration, ejaculate before penetration, or are unable to temporarily or permanently delay ejaculation.

Most often I have seen this in men at the beginning of their sexual experience or during anxiety, intermittent sexual experiences or erectile dysfunction. However, there are other, less common causes.

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As a urologist, I have taught men and partners the “squeeze technique” to delay orgasm. This is done by pressing behind the glans during foreplay to reduce sensation and restore the orgasm pattern over time. This takes time, work and, if someone else is involved, a committed partner.

We also used local anesthetics (which can have a side effect of making the partner less comfortable), condoms to reduce sensation, and antidepressants (which can also have a side effect of reduced libido).

So the question remains: Will consuming cannabis help delay orgasm?

This is a very interesting question for which there is very little data. In 2009, a study of landline telephone users aged 16 to 64 was conducted in La Trobe, Australia and published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. The results were very interesting. There were 126 people who used cannabis daily. It was found that men in this group were four times more likely to have difficulty reaching orgasm, but were also three times more likely to experience premature ejaculation. These results certainly make it difficult to decide whether cannabis improves bedtime romps.

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One of the weaknesses of the study is that only landline connections were used. Could this be a different population than what we would see in cell phone users? So it's still unclear whether a sexual medicine specialist should recommend or advise against cannabis for ejaculation problems in men.

My advice is that if premature ejaculation is due to anxiety and the patient is already an occasional smoker, a low dose of cannabis, which can relieve anxiety, may improve the situation. A higher dose may cause impotence or difficulty achieving orgasm.

All of this is very user dependent and may require trial and error, which can be very satisfying or very frustrating for one or two people. If it's helpful, we hope our doctor's stance on cannabis in bed lasts longer.