Female Orgasmic Function and Cannabis: A New Therapeutic Frontier

Written by
August 19, 2025

Female_Orgasm.jpg

Female Orgasmic Function and Cannabis: A New Therapeutic Frontier

For decades, women, researchers, and clinicians have consistently reported that cannabis enhances female orgasmic response —yet this consistent finding has received little attention in mainstream medicine or clinical training.

Importance of the “O”

Female Orgasmic Disorder/Difficulty (FOD) affects up to 71% of premenopausal women, according to the DSM-5-TR.¹ Despite its prevalence and impact on mental health, intimate relationships, and overall quality of life, FOD remains underdiagnosed, undertreated, and under-researched.

The Neurobiology of Orgasm: A Case for Cannabis and Consciousness

The influence of cannabis intake on sexual behavior and arousal appears to be dose-dependent in both men and women, although women are more consistent in reporting beneficial effects.2  Women appear to be less affected by higher doses whereas men can go from facilitated to inhibited as dose increases. Further, the endocannabinoid system (ECS), is modulated by estrogen and varies across the menstrual cycle—potentially heightening women’s sensitivity to cannabinoids.

Lynn et al. (2019) found that women who used cannabis before sex had more than twice the odds of reporting satisfactory orgasms and emphasized the importance of studying the ECS as a pathway for treating female sexual dysfunction.3 Similarly, Kasman et al. (2020) reported that more frequent cannabis use was associated with improved scores across multiple domains of female sexual function—including desire, arousal, orgasm, and satisfaction—suggesting ECS-mediated, dose-dependent benefits for women.4

In a 2024 peer-reviewed study I co-authored with Dr. Jordan Tishler, we examined the effect of cannabis use before partnered sex in women with orgasm difficulty. The results showed statistically significant improvements in orgasmic function, reinforcing what decades of research, emerging scientific studies, and countless anecdotal reports have made increasingly clear: cannabis is a promising therapeutic tool for restoring or initiating orgasmic capacity in women with FOD.5

Beyond physiology, studies have consistently shown that altered states of consciousness and attentional absorption play a central role in female sexual response—both of which can be facilitated by cannabis.

In 1993, Louis Swartz, PhD, in a paper presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, noted that “absorbed states are an obligatory pathway to high physiological sexual arousal and to orgasm in many, perhaps all females. But the absorbed states pathway is not an obligatory feature of arousal and orgasm in most males.”6 This was echoed in 2016 by Rui Costa and colleagues, who found that “altered states of consciousness with attentional absorption are strongly related to sexual responsiveness in women, and to a lesser extent in men.”7  [NB: altered states of arousal in men has not been studied to the extent it has been in women.]

Further, clinical definitions now underscore the distinction between male and female orgasm. A 2016 review by Dubray notes that female orgasm is no longer defined solely by muscular contractions, but as a “variable and transient peak sensation of intense pleasure creating an altered state of consciousness”8—a definition that acknowledges the neuropsychological and subjective dimensions of the experience. In contrast, male orgasm remains clinically defined by the sensory processing of genital stimulation and cerebral response.

What we are learning through science is something ancient traditions already recognized. In early Tantric and other sacred sexual practices and rituals, cannabis was used to enhance sexual experience and to help women enter trance-like states of surrender.9 Today, neuroscience and clinical research are validating what those traditions intuitively understood: that for many women, orgasm is not merely a physical event—it is both accessed through and expressed as a shift in consciousness.

Training the Clinicians: A New Standard of Care for FOD

To meet the growing demand from both patients and practitioners, the Female Orgasm Training Institute is in the process of creating a professional certification program called CT-FOD (Cannabis Treatment for Female Orgasmic Difficulty/Disorder).

The program includes two distinct tracks:

Psychotherapeutic Track

For licensed therapists and sexologists, focused on trauma-informed care, somatic integration, and cannabis-assisted retraining strategies.

Medical Track

For prescribing physicians and cannabinoid specialists, focused on cannabis pharmacology, dosing, strain selection, methods of delivery, and orgasm-focused treatment planning.

The certification equips professionals with research-backed, ethical, and somatically-informed frameworks to help women overcome orgasm difficulty using an integrative biopsychosocial approach.

Dr. Mulvehill is a Clinical Sexologist and Orgasmologist.  She is the founder of the Female Orgasm Research Institute, Female Orgasm Training Institute, and Women’s Cannabis Project.

 

References

  1. American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.; DSM-5-TR).
  2. Gorzalka, B. B., Hill, M. N., & Chang, S. C. H. (2010). Male–female differences in the effects of cannabinoids on sexual behavior and gonadal hormone function. Hormones and Behavior, 58(1), 91–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2009.08.009
  3. Lynn, B. K., López, J. D., Miller, C., Thompson, J., & Campian, E. C. (2019). The relationship between marijuana use prior to sex and sexual function in women. Sexual Medicine, 7(2), 192–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2019.01.003
  4. Kasman, A. M., Bhambhvani, H. P., Wilson-King, G., & Eisenberg, M. L. (2020). Assessment of the association of cannabis on female sexual function with the Female Sexual Function Index. Sexual Medicine, 8(4), 699–708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2020.07.001
  5. Mulvehill, S., & Tishler, J. (2024). Assessment of the effect of cannabis use before partnered sex on women with and without orgasm difficulty. Sexual Medicine, 12(2), qfae023. https://doi.org/10.1093/sexmed/qfae023
  6. Swartz, L. (1994). Absorbed states play different roles in female and male sexual response: Hypotheses for testing. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 20(3), 207–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/00926239408403427
  7. Costa, R. M., Pestana, J., Costa, D., & Wittmann, M. (2016). Altered states of consciousness are related to higher sexual responsiveness. Consciousness and Cognition, 42, 135-141. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2016.03.013
  8. Dubray, S., Gérard, M., Beaulieu‑Prévost, D., & Courtois, F. (2017). Validation of a self‑report questionnaire assessing the bodily and physiological sensations of orgasm. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 14(2), 255–263.
  9. Aldrich, M.R. (1977). Tantric cannabis use in India. J Psychedelic Drugs 9(3):227-33.