Women who frequently use marijuana report greater satisfaction in their romantic relationships, according to a new study. But for men, the opposite appears to be true for reasons that aren’t immediately clear.
The study from researchers at Ariel University and Achva Academic College in Israel was published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence this month.
Researchers recruited 110 couples who completed questionnaires on “cannabis use patterns, general satisfaction with relationship quality, satisfaction with the quality of sex, and perceived partner responsiveness,” the paper says.
They found that women who used marijuana at a “high intensity” experienced greater relationship satisfaction, perceiving both their own and their partner’s fulfillment higher compared to those who consumed cannabis less frequently or not at all.
Curiously, however, the study—funded in part by the Israeli Science Foundation, which receives support from the Israeli government—concluded that “men reported the opposite” experience.
The reasons that the intensity of marijuana use seems to impact romantic relationship satisfaction differently between genders warrants further research, the study authors said.
While numerous studies have examined the intersection of cannabis consumption and romantic or sexual behavior, this latest contribution is novel in part because it looked at possible dose-response effects.
“Results indicated that discrepancy in cannabis use intensity was significantly associated with lower general relationship satisfaction and lower satisfaction with the quality of sex,” the study says. “Additionally, dyadic analyses indicated that women who used cannabis at a high intensity tended to report an increase in relationship satisfaction and exhibit an increase in their own and, to some degree, their partner’s perceived partner responsiveness.”
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