Sex and Cannabis: A Panel of 3 Doctors Discuss the Ins and the Outs, While I Try To Keep My Composure.

It's been a whole year since I... (Utt! I have sex more than once a year, so stop thinking that right now.) It's been a whole year since I attended a Cannabis Expo.

(Although this post is safe for work, it does contain mature subject matter.)

I'd been perusing the 2-day conference schedule for a few months and the panel that I was most intrigued by was speaking about "women's sexual issues and the role that cannabis can play in a healthy sex life."

I had to really think about the way that seminar description read.

Here's my thought and answer pattern to myself on this:

"I'm a woman over 40, do I have sexual issues?"

I'm not sure...maybe...I could...I'll revisit this another time.

I use cannabis everyday and I like having sex. "Does that make me a sexpot?"

Technically, yes. OK... I can live with that.

Then I thought: "Wow more than one doctor is prepared to speak about the sexual health of women and the role cannabis plays! That's just not something you hear or read everyday."

I committed myself to attend this particular conference seminar, right there on the spot, as a direct result. 

When the date finally arrived and I was sitting in my chair waiting for the seminar to start, I decided to read the bylines of the doctors who were scheduled to speak. There were 3 doctors in total. Two men and one woman and it turned out that one of the male doctors was my own cannabis doctor!

(I have decided not to name the doctors publicly because this is my interpretation of what was said and what happened and I am sensitive to the fact that this will be on the blockchain for eternity.) 

Now, what you should know is that my doc is a young doctor. If he's even 35, I'd be surprised. He practices family medicine and holds specialty certifications in fitness and nutrition, which is why he supports the use of cannabis as medicine, and why I chose him to be part of my medical team. I also know that he was born and raised in Newfoundland (Canada's little version of Ireland) where, almost certainly he was exposed to a good catholic, wholesome upbringing. In his profession, he is still somewhat fresh and as a result, not completely jaded yet. 

The other male doctor was an older gentleman, in his late 60's. He was also a family physician, as well as a clinical researcher and part of the Foria company. Foria is the name of a cannabis infused feminine lubricant. Oh, and this "love lotion" is made with coconut oil, 360 mg of THC and other cannabinoids according to Foira's company advertising.

It's completely edible and will accommodate those in your life who are vegan, gluten-free or sugar-free.

(OMG! Kill me now. Just strike me dead right here on the spot for what I am about to ask..."but does it still count when your crotch is high and you're eating out another person?" I wondered as I sat there thinking about how things were likely to go down, in this method of delivery and general scenario.)

I had eaten some platinum banana kush tincture on my way to the expo and I was enjoying the smooth body tingle that this strain provides. So now I was even more intrigued by what I was potentially going to learn.

The last doctor on the panel was a woman and I guessed from her head-shot in the program that she was an upwardly, self-sufficient female in her 50's. You could see life experience in her face and she was listed as a doctor of neuro-psychiatry. "Cool", I thought. "Let's see what this brain doc has to say about women's sexual issues and cannabis.

All the doctors arrived and took their seats beside each other on the presentation stage.

My doctor is in the middle, directly under the "i" of the lift focal point. The psychiatrist is sitting to the left under the "t" and the older doctor is sitting under the "l". The other lady on the stage is the mediator and the person who maintained order and asked all the questions.

The seminar begins and the mediator starts to introduce each doctor. When she gets to the psychiatrist she adds to her bio by giving her the title of "Tantric Yoga Sexual Goddess." (Yikes! I wondered if my young little doctor from Newfoundland knew that he would be co-presenting with someone so experienced in these fine arts.)

Then the mediator gave each doctor a chance to elaborate on their personal bios and set the tone for the presentation, by explaining what they thought the sexual issues are, facing women today. The male doctors both cited stress as the major issue which cause women not to be able to stay in the present moment and as a result experience sexual dysfunction at a statistical rate of 40%!

That's a really high percentage and I know that it is understated because most women don't talk about it and would never admit to it. The older doctor added that they've had different prescription medications available to them to treat male sexual dysfunction (like Viagra) for the last 20 years, but not much for women...until cannabis. This is one of the reasons that they developed the vaginal lubricant. He then went on to describe the application process which needs to occur 15 minutes prior to having a sexual experience and that it must be liberally sprayed on the woman's clitoris and labium. The THC in each spray contains 2 mg of THC and binds to the cb2 receptors for cannabis which are present in the vagina. Once THC has bound to the cb2 receptors in the vagina, the women is able to feel more, which makes achieving an orgasm easier, stronger in intensity and more frequent during sex.

My doctor was next to take a turn speaking. He talked about Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors as being a major cause of low testosterone levels in women. SSRIs, which are used in the treatment of anxiety and depression, lower testosterone levels and produce very low sexual libido as a secondary side-effect. Cannabis is an effective medicine to use because it helps women to stay in the present moment mentally, instead of multi-tasking. Plus, cannabis raises the neurotransmitter called anandamide which instantly elevates mood and will stop an anxiety attack and help a person to feel happy. He then lamented that drinking alcohol also reduces testosterone, so both women and men who drink regularly (as a means to relax and unwind) are actually lowering their sexual desire in the process.

The take home message here is that if you take SSRI medications for anxiety and you drink regularly, you aren't likely to ever feel horny.

Then, it was the neurophyschiatrist's chance to speak. She ignored the original question and went straight to audience participation. Her first question was to ask how many of us, had sex in the last 24 hours. A few brave souls put their hands up. My doctor started to look worried. I knew at that point, that these doctors did not know each other and they had know idea what the others were going to say or do...

She then asked how many of us gave oral sex to someone else in the last 24 hours...then how many of us received oral sex in the same 24 hours. With each question, fewer and fewer of the members of the audience raised their hands.

"The problem facing women today is that they have sexual intimacy issues with their partners" she proclaimed in a very self-assured tone. "Partner up with the person beside you." she ordered. 

I was sitting in a back row and thankfully had no one beside me. My poor doctor's options were the 60 year old man to his right and the Tantric Goddess to his left. The older doctor immediately paired himself with the younger mediator (before he got yelled at) and my doctor sheepishly turned to the self-proclaimed Goddess...and did what he was told. 

She instructed everyone to face their partners, look them in the eyes and place their right hand on top of the person's heart. My doctor tried to gingerly place his hand just above her left "double D" breast. Before any of us had a chance to even think, she grabbed his hand and place it squarely in the middle of her bosum. She then sternly instructed everyone to tell their partner "out-loud" that they respected and valued them. Then, she turned to all of us and in sort of a condescending tone, told us all that this was a form of sexual intimacy and if you couldn't say this to a "real" sexual partner, we had no business spreading our legs open or penetrating anyone. "Women have sexual issues because they don't feel valued or respected," she said.

My doctor almost fell off his chair. Some people in the audience clapped. In complete shock and in dis-belief of what I had just witnessed on the stage, I started to laugh. I know that sounds immature and I probably wouldn't have if I didn't know my doctor personally and I wasn't fully medicated myself.

Then she went on to say that cannabis, when it's ingested, heightens all your senses and will let a woman experience an orgasm at every level of each of her chakras. (There are 7 chakras...just in case that's a new term for you.) This was followed by another bold declaration that if a woman wants to raise her testosterone levels she should engage in oral sex with her male partners because semen is full of testosterone raising compounds. (I guess this statement was intentionally used in the plural and left open so as not to exclude any other types of partners...)

All the men sitting in the audience clapped and cheered. 

The look on my doctor's face was priceless and he doubled right over in his chair. When he regained his composure he thanked the female doctor on behalf of the entire male population of the planet. Then he said, "I usually just instruct women to add maca root powder to their smoothies in the morning and cut back on the amount of wine they drink, at night to raise their testosterone levels and that's only if their blood test shows a low testosterone reading...

I couldn't help it. I laughed again.

To recap, on this day I learned that:

• cannabis helps all people live in the present moment and not worry about the past or the future;
• cannabis applied topically will heighten the sensation of pleasure when applied to the genitals;
• a person who has a low testosterone level, won't have much of a sex drive;
•  SSRIs and alcohol are 2 substances that will lower a person's testosterone levels;
• and eating semen on a regular basis will raise testosterone levels, but so will maca root powder.

I can also tell you that when two people embrace, it triggers the release of oxytocin from the pituitary gland located in the brain. This is a hormone which is often called the cuddle or love hormone because it binds people strongly together and keeps them interested in their relationship. (We need more hugging and less fighting on this planet.)

I can also tell you that Fiora, (the name brand lubricant) is made with coconut oil and is basically a coconut oil infused with a strain of cannabis which contains 15% THC. It can easily be made and any strain that is recognized for making music sound great and increasing appetite, will work like a charm.

Coconut oil infused with cannabis will eat through latex and rubber so if you use condoms, take other precautions so that you can play safe. ;)

I welcome your comments and I invite you to follow me on my journey (if you dare, after reading this article).

(Please go easy on me...I have yet to reach the level of  a "tantric yoga sexual goddess").

(I'm working on it. So far, I've added maca root powder to my smoothies.) 

~ Rebecca Ryan