The sexualised use of cannabis among young sexual minority men: “I’m actually enjoying this for the first time”

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify how cannabis use features within the sexual lives of young sexual minority men who use substances, and how this might intersect with features of their contemporary socio-cultural contexts in a setting where non-medical cannabis was recently legalised: Vancouver, Canada. Forty-one sexual minority men ages 15 to 30 years were recruited between January and December 2018 to participate in in-depth, semi-structured 1-2 h interviews about their experiences of using substances (e.g. cannabis) for sex. Drawing on constant comparative analytic techniques, two themes emerged with regards to participants’ perceptions of, and experiences with, the sexualised use of cannabis. First, participants described how they used cannabis for sex to increase sexual pleasure and lower inhibitions. Second, participants described using cannabis for sex to reduce feelings of anxiety and shame, and foster intimacy and connection with sexual partners. These findings identify how the sexualised use of cannabis functions as a ‘strategic resource’ for sexual minority men to deliberately achieve both physiological and psychoactive effects, while concurrently underscoring the extent to which the contexts, patterns and motivations associated with cannabis use for sex parallel those associated with this form of Chemsex.

Keywords:

• Sexual minority men
• gay and bisexual men
• cannabis use
• sexualised use of substances
• youth

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the study participants for their contribution to the research, as well as current and past researchers and staff. M-J Milloy is the Canopy Growth Professor of Cannabis Science at the University of British Columbia, a position established through arms-length gifts to the university from Canopy Growth, a licensed producer of cannabis, and the Government of British Columbia’s Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions.

Disclosure statement

We have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by the Canadian Institute for Health Research (PJT-148818). Ethical approval to conduct this study was granted by the University of British Columbia’s Behavioural Research Ethics Board (H16-01915). Scholar funding for Rod Knight and postdoctoral funding for Olivier Ferlatte was provided by the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR). M-J Milloy is supported by the US National Institutes of Health, a Scholar Award from MSFHR, and a New Investigator award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.