Burnouts Do It Best? New Study Says Pot Smokers Have More Sex

A comprehensive new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine has founded that contrary to the popular belief that regular marijuana use impairs sexual motivation and performance, the opposite seems to be true.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, analyzed statistics on over 50,000 American men and women aged 25-45, who participated in an annual CDC survey between 2002 and 2015. Dr. Michael Eisenberg, the study's senior author, said that his team's findings have effectively broken some popular misconceptions. "Frequent marijuana use doesn't seem to impair sexual motivation or performance. If anything, it's associated with increased coital frequency," he said.

Researchers analyzed data on study participants' frequency of marijuana use and the number of times they had sex per month, discovering that those who never use the drug also have about 20% less sex. "So over the course of a year, [marijuana users are] having sex maybe 20 more times," Eisenberg noted.

Although the study does not establish an actual causal link between marijuana use and sexual activity, the results are steady, according to its authors, and applies to people of both sexes, all races, religions, ages, income levels, education levels, health status, civil status, and parental status. "[In] pretty much every group we studied, this pattern persisted," Eisenberg said.

The US National Institute of Drug Abuse estimates that over 20 million adult Americans use marijuana. The drug is legal for medical or recreational use across 29 states. A recent Gallup poll has found that 64% of Americans believe it should be legal for adults to use the drug.