"A lot of people use a lot of different drugs," Matthew
Johnson, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, recently told VICE. "And a lot of people have sex. You name
the drug, and someone says they love having sex on ."
If you've ever spent any time in a club, on the internet, or
at college, you know Johnson's onto something. Most of humanity likes to get
freaky. And from the moment we figured out how to burn, ferment, or otherwise
synthesize mind-altering substances, from alcohol to cocaine to LSD, we've
found ways to incorporate them into our sex lives, expanding and refining the raw
pleasures that come with having sex.
Given how long—and often—humans have mixed drugs and
sex, you'd think we might understand the two pretty well by now. But as Johnson—who runs clinical trials testing narcotics' effects on human behavior—can attest, drugs affect us all a little differently. Some have a direct pharmacological
impact on the way we experience the world, while others affect our brains so dramatically that their impact on sex is a total crapshoot. They can open us to complete ecstasy or lead us to make risky, dangerous decisions that can negatively impact our health and the well-being of our partners. They can even play a disturbingly crucial role in the sexual assaults that happen all too often across America.
It's important that you have some information on what you're getting into before you
jump into the sack or a bathroom stall with a baggie full of
something. To help you out, we've trawled through drug enthusiast forums, combed over what limited studies exist,
and consulted as many people—from casual tokers to psychonauts, from amateur
enthusiasts to doctors and psychiatrists—as we could to put together this rundown of all the info that's out there about humping high on drugs.
All illustrations by Carly Jean Andrews
Alcohol
Booze is probably the most commonly used drug for initiating
or enhancing sex.
Going by some
studies
, alcohol may be involved in over half of all sexual interactions in
America, at least among young people—although we don't know if it's always used
for inebriation or just social lubrication. Predictably, stories of sex and
alcohol are a dime a dozen.
Some anecdotes
suggest that casual drinkers get a boost in sexual interest, arousal, or
orgasm, while others detail problems with all of those.
"It doesn't appear that people actually enjoy sex more
," Johnson tells me. "It's probably just the disinhibiting
effect. Their social anxiety that usually comes along approaching a partner is
taken down. Or suggesting a sexual practice that you wouldn't usually suggest,
particularly with a novel partner, made easier as well."
Much of what we experience while drunk is a manifestation of expectations. If we expect to get turned on and fuck, we will likely fulfill
that prophecy for ourselves.
A buzz can make it easier to talk about desires freely and
openly, or help someone feeling
pain due to stress and tension to loosen up and find pleasure. For most
people, that's the effect of a few drinks over the course of an evening. Consume more than that, and you can start running into trouble.
Alcohol, especially when consumed in large quantifies,
dampens not just your inhibitions, but also your long-term decision-making
processes, drastically increasing your chance of having unprotected sex.
Its impacts on your
brain, nervous system, and body can cause erectile dysfunction
in men and dulled sensations and delayed, difficult orgasms for men and women.
(Some couples actually
like this, since it helps them deal with premature busting or
similar issues.) The dehydration caused by booze can also make it difficult
for a woman to get wet, which can turn the other way and make sex
more painful.
At the most benign level, beer goggles are a very real phenomenon. At the most malignant, alcohol plays a huge part in sexual
assaults, coercions, and rapes, by inhibiting self-awareness and consent.
Cocaine and Amphetamines
You've probably heard a ton of stories about coke or meth-fueled sex
parties over the years, perhaps involving
disgraced politicians. That's because
amphetamines and cocaine are among the few hard narcotics with truly aphrodisiac qualities.
And according to Steven Shoptaw, a UCLA professor and psychologist
of substance abuse, some amphetamines are used across demographic lines as
well, which is unusual for most drugs. He tells of bikers, sure, but also housewives,
eager to keep up their sexual appetites despite their chores and childcare
duties, who turn to crystal and hard white.
Many accounts of cocaine sex throw around words like animalistic or invincible. This can be seen in The Casual Sex Project (CSP), a series of testimonials NYU researcher Zhana Vrangalova is collecting to study experiences of sex outside of mainstream, monogamous relationships. One subject, "Aslan," a
34-year-old married woman in Panama writing about a recent one-night stand, described having sex on
cocaine as follows:
" raw gritty sex w/ a beautiful stranger. It
felt surreal almost. Then the reality of the effects on my reputation,
possibility of pregnancy and stds started to hit me a bit."
Yet some people talk about these drugs as mere tools that help them stay awake and focused. While others see them as turn offs or attribute their erectile dysfunction to them. It's a dizzying diversity of opinions, but the raw
science of stimulants suggests that the vast majority of people popping,
snorting, or injecting them will experience sex-heightening highs.
According to Soptaw and Larissa Mooney, also a professor of
substance abuse issues at UCLA, amphetamines blast our brains with dopamine,
the pleasure chemical, and norepinephrine, a stamina booster, making us feel
incredibly positive, energized, and focused. But they also alter the way we make decisions
and can lead to an over-emphasis on personal desires and short-term outcomes. The drugs increase our heart rates and blood pleasure, which can enhance physical sensation, yet they also often delay orgasm.
There are slight differences in the effects of these drugs. Coke generally fades within an hour, while meth can last as long as 11 or 12 hours. But they generally make you feel
like a sex god—everything seems amazing and you can have sex longer than usual.
"People will have these experiences where they'll just fuck
and fuck and fuck, but they won't come," Shoptaw told VICE of amphetamine sex marathons.
These drugs come with common sexual and non-sexual risks as
well. By encouraging rough or marathon sex, they can lead people to push their
bodies unto bleeding and chafing. Coupled with a lack of sleep and a decreased
assessment of risk, the drive to get any sex as quick as possible
makes coke-, meth- or pill-sex a
great way to contract
a disease.
In the long-term, usage of these drugs can lead to "coke" or
"crystal dick," which is to say a limp cock. But more troublesome is the potential of
powerful amphetamines to ravage your pleasure receptors,
killing your sober sex life—not to mention your overall capacity to experience joy without a hit, a problem sadly
not unusual among habitual meth smokers.
Watch 'Stoned Kids'
Weed
After alcohol, pot is probably the second-most common drug used in the bedroom. And just like with booze, stories of blitzed banging are both common and
diverse. Some people describe weed as an
aphrodisiac,
making them
harder, wetter, and more sensitive, or a relaxant, loosening things
up
. Others call it a downer that depresses their interest in sex. Despite varied tales, studies
on cannabis and copulation suggest that the majority of users experience
positive effects when pounding on pot.
"Generally,
two-thirds of most experienced users report some sort of sexual enhancement,"
Mitch Earleywine, a psychologist studying cannabis at SUNY Albany, wrote to
VICE. " that men thought they were more attentive lovers
after using the plant, and most folks thought that it enhanced orgasm and
increased general arousal and responsiveness."
There're a lot of theories thrown around about the neurochemical
adjustments
weed makes in our brain to achieve that. But at its core, weed
increases sensations, which can augment or dampen sex drives,
depending on our mental states and environments when blazing.
As Earleywine explains,"Cannabinoids modulate amygdala reactivity to stimuli in
general, and the amygdala has a lot to do with
any strong feelings, especially sexual ones. In a sense, cannabis can make the
amygdala interpret average stimuli as more fun and sexual than they might seem otherwise."
As anyone who's had a bad high can attest, weed can also magnify fear and depression, and cause paranoia. This might wind up putting you off of sex, or distracting you from a
sexual impulse. It's also worth noting that some studies correlate chronic
usage with
decreased fertility and erectile dysfunction, which can make for a shitty time for everyone.
Desperate anti-pot activists have recently tried to label marijuana as a new date rape drug. Although weed does alter the mind, it doesn't seem to increase risky
sexual behaviors like alcohol or amphetamines. And considering pot across the country is getting more formal regulation, for many lovers out there, it probably offers the best
balance of safety and reliability on this list.
However, due to a lack of research and their idiosyncrasies, the jury is still
out
on the effect of synthetic cannabinoids, which we do not recommend under any circumstances.
Molly
Going off of the dozen or so stories of MDMA-fueled
casual sex in the in the CSP database, you might think molly,
a unique drug that shares qualities with amphetamines and hallucinogens, was
just another raw, gritty, sense-enhancing stimulant aphrodisiac. Consider the
tale of "DJ," a
30-year-old man in Connecticut who used three points of the stuff to enhance
sex with a booty-call he met on an adult friend finder-type website:
"There was one point in the night when I felt like we were
in another place and time and nothing mattered except the pleasure of the
moment. It truly felt amazing. The night started around 7 PM and we didn't stop
making love until about 7 AM."
That sounds like an amphetamine marathon. More tender than
meth sex, maybe, but still a marathon. And in
some studies, half of the users researchers talked to said they'd experienced an
increased sex drive, reinforcing the drug's stimulant connections. But that
doesn't actually make much sense given the pharmacological properties of MDMA.
"Pure MDMA produces euphoria and feelings of empathy in most
people," Karen McElrath, a professor at Fayetteville State University and an
MDMA researcher, told VICE. "A number of individuals who use pure MDMA will
experience feelings of emotional closeness (even with strangers), which can
include sensuality, although
without
the desire for penetrative sex."
Both McElrath and Zvi Zemishlany, a professor at Tel Aviv
University and the author of one of the studies linking MDMA to stimulant-esque experiences, suggest that people's hot-and-heavy E escapades are often the
result of impure pills or powders—or mixing it with other drugs.
Some people still try to use pure MDMA's empathetic
qualities to enhance sex. But more often than not, the drug's sexual
impairments, from drive decrease to erectile dysfunction, win out. As long as
it doesn't cause anxiety (which it can), MDMA is better suited to spooning than plowing.
It's worth nothing that it's not clear if this
emotive-sensitive property extends to MDMA variants—e.g. synthetic cathinones like MDPV (a.k.a. bath salts), which are often sold as MDMA on the street.
As McElrath explains,"Synthetic cathinones have been linked to sexual arousal, although this relationship is seriously under-researched. Clearly, the synthetic cathinones contain amphetamine-like properties and much like
other stimulants, they might enhance sexual desire and extend sexual activity"
and carry similar risks, too.
Watch 'Getting High on HIV Medication'
Hallucinogens
Psychedelics and dissociatives (a wide class covering
everything from DMT to LSD to ketamine to PCP) are among the most subjective and unreliable drugs on the market. Just look at accounts of LSD
sex: "Matthew," a
33-year-old guy from Austin, Texas,
recounts the tale of a particularly horny
trip at age 16 in the
CSP database that makes it sound like a straight aphrodisiac:
"I hit on every female b/c I could smell the lust if I was
only able to catch their eye... hips and pulled her
closer to my lips then stop then I would start again as a teasing
flirtationship was playing out in front of both of our groups . Im
sure they were saying something but we were in our own world ."
But to other users, LSD is too distracting,
the trips too weird, to get into a sexual vibe.
The same is true of psilocybin, a.k.a. shrooms. Some
describe them as creating a primal, almost
amphetamine-like lust. Others describe them as being more like pure, cuddle-inducing molly.
That was the case for "
Anna," a
35-year-old woman in the South recounting a trip when she was 18 in the
CSP database. Mushrooms made her
feel closer than ever to a boy she'd never had feelings for before, but they didn't impact her physical drive or ability.
You could show the same variability for every dissociative
or psychedelic out there, whether it's
DMT
or ketamine or peyote or PCP. These
drugs are united by one thing: unpredictability.
According to Johnson and Michael Kometer, a
neuropsychologist of altered states studying psychedelics and consciousness at
the University of Zurich, much of this has to do with the massive effect these
drugs have on the human brain. Each one hits slightly different receptors. LSD hits wide, making it especially
unpredictable. DMT hits hard, so
you'll most likely be too immobilized and far out to
have sex. And PCP and ketamine hit our
deep brain, making them uniquely
destructive and risky—they can stop your breathing, for instance. But for all
their little variations, they all touch a few of the same spots to loosen up our thought patterns.
"We have more to learn and verify about this, but it seems
that they kind of pull the self-identity out," Johnson says. "You could think
to it as a more unconstrained form of consciousness... That can result in panic
and anxiety at the loss of ego boundaries and confusion. it can lead to
ecstatic states of intense feelings of unity with the universe and everything."
You're more likely to have a positive hallucinogenic
hump if you become a psychonaut first, learning what substances, dosages, and
settings work for you over time. For those who want to mix shrooms or ketamine with
sex right off the bat, remember that small doses are key
, you're more likely to be
sexual towards the tail end of a trip (based on anecdotal evidence collected by
Kometer), and you're more likely to enjoy yourself in a setting of comfort and
safety.
Nitrites
Commonly known as poppers, nitrites are probably the drug
with the most direct link to sex on this list. Despite some back-and-forth with regulators,
it's usually legal to buy poppers so long as sellers give them a euphemistic name, so it's no wonder there are so many vivid stories of sex on nitrites floating in
the filthy ether.
Poppers can relax your body, and are said to often give you a brief
but intense rush
, making you feel extremely horny. An unnamed, 19-year-old non-binary individual in New York speaks to this relaxing property on the CSP in a tale of sex with a 41-year-old
man the teen met on
Grindr:
" offered me poppers... which I could feel relax my body,
making more tolerable."
Meanwhile "Peter," a
33-year-old white man in the United Kingdom, mostly straight but engaging
in a sexual experience with another man and using poppers for the first time,
focused on the intense flush and rush to the head he experienced in his tale in
the
CSP database:
"The feeling was so intense, I thought my head would explode
and it was as if we were both possessed by something. We went at each other and
I felt like I wanted him so badly I would die if I didn't . It was
really intense and overpowering... I can't really remember much more after this
for the next few minutes as I just came over so hot and felt enormously horny."
Although that sounds extreme, poppers are physiologically
very simple. Most often
amyl nitrites, but sometimes solutions of
isobutyl, cyclohexyl, isopentyl, or isoamyl nitrites, poppers are
vasodilators—substances that relax your blood vessels. More important for sex, they relax not just blood
vessels, but all soft tissues, including the anus and sphincter—a combo that
has historically made them great for anyone interested in butt sex.
Poppers can be especially unsafe if they're not properly stored. They can also
burn if they splash on your skin, and they're flammable as hell. They pose risks for people with certain medical conditions, and although their
stackable, strategic pleasure effect
mixes well with
many drugs, it's very risky to mix them with erectile dysfunction treatments
because the added blood pressure drop can cause anything from a temporary
fainting spell to death depending on your health. Not to mention that more relaxed anal can
also mean rougher anal,
leading to tears and bleeding, making it easier to catch a disease.
Shoptaw also cautions users that not all poppers on the
market today are even nitrites—which is to say, be careful about what you put in your body, people.
Opiates
Opiates, a class containing heroin and a number of
painkillers and sedatives, are perhaps the least
sexy category in this primer. That makes some sense, considering opioids are fueling the nationwide increase in overdose deaths. The only account in the CSP database to seemingly include any type of opiate came from a 32-year-old woman from Seattle
who hooked up with a surfer on a vacation to Oahu after suffering a mild
injury—then promptly fell asleep on him after accidentally mixing painkillers
and alcohol.
Anonymous
accounts
from wider drug websites likewise talk about opiates as things
that take away your sex drive, make it impossible to achieve orgasm if you do
have sex, and more often than not just lay you out in a total stupor.
Opiates are among the least-studied narcotics when it comes
to sex because, according to Johnson, their use in intercourse is so rare as to
be a negligible population-wide phenomenon.
"They're in a different class than the classic sedatives
like barbiturates," he says. "But at the gross level, they're sedating.
Someone's more likely to get drowsy and nod off , and
you've got to be awake to have sex."
Adds McElrath, "A large proportion of people who are dependent on heroin
tend to experience low sex drive even among short- and
long-term sexual partners."
This seems to be linked to the pharmacology of opiates, which apparently bind to bits of your brain in such a way as to
inhibit the production of neurochemicals associated with sexy feelings. That
goes for anything from
codeine
to heroin—some opiates are perhaps more addictive than others, and some are
better controlled in medicinal doses, but none of them differ enough from the rest pharmacologically to have massively divergent sexual effects.
That said, you can find a tiny minority of people who claim
to enjoy sex on opiates, either because a mild dose can give them an altered
sense of time, elongating sexual experiences (especially for people dealing with
premature ejaculation), or because they can increase
relaxation and comfort, or just because they can make you feel a little bit loopy, but still
awake.
For most people, though, opiates just aren't very good sex drugs.
NOW WHAT?
Taking drugs can be pretty dangerous and is often a crapshoot when it comes to having enjoyable sex, especially when you're getting your drugs off the black market. Even if you've tried a particular drug before, adding sex into the
equation is a new layer of experiential factors to account for, so be careful. Or you could just have sober sex, which is risky enough in its own right in this day and age, considering all the STDs and clingy partners out there.
There's a real lack of scientific research being done on the way drugs impact sex, which is what makes getting high and having sex even more risky. One thing we can say for sure is that everyone's sex-drug experience is unique. So don't take anyone else's word or anecdote as gospel when it comes to what you put in your own body, and never forget that your partner(s) might not feel the same way you do on a particular drug. If you have serious questions about drugs, sex, and your body, you should go talk to a medical professional.
Follow Mark Hay on Twitter.