How Weed and Booze Affect Your Sex Life

A new, real, actually scientific study says weed might increase your chances of getting laid.

Aug 10 2016, 3:40pm

Photo by Julian Morgans

Finally, one of science's most important studies has been carried out: research into how weed and alcohol affect your sex life.

Researchers at New York University's Center for Drug Use and HIV Research assembled 24 volunteers, aged 18 to 35, to discover people's perceived sexual experiences while either drunk or high. One of the most notable—but highly unsurprising—findings was that weed is less likely than booze to lead us into making risky decisions.

Instead of the questionable one-night stands or unsafe sex as a result of nights on the Negronis, smoking a joint actually makes people less likely to put themselves in new—a.k.a. uncomfortable—situations, so they tend to have sex with people they already know when they're high.

Weed was also found to increase your chances of getting laid. Because it's illegal, you end up smoking in private spaces, i.e. places where sex is way more likely to occur—or so the thinking goes.

Dr. Palamar, who led the study, said: "Participants reported feelings of regret more frequently after sex on alcohol, but compared to alcohol, they generally didn't report poor judgement after using marijuana. When smoking marijuana, participants tended to report increased feelings of anxiety or a sense of wariness in unfamiliar situations that they did not generally seem to experience after using alcohol."

The study also found that those who were drunk were more likely to have "kinkier" sex, whereas those who had smoked weed were after a more emotional connection.

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