By The Editors of the Effective Cannabis Newsletter

Newly Released Abstract: Mulvehill, S. (2026). Cannabis as a Therapeutic Ally for Female Orgasmic Disorder/Difficulty. Current Sexual Health Reports (Springer). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-026-00417-z

A newly released abstract published in Current Sexual Health Reports (Springer, 2026) is drawing attention in the Cannabis medicine community, and for good reason. Researcher and advocate Suzanne Mulvehill has produced a comprehensive review situating Cannabis as a serious, evidence-based therapeutic option for Female Orgasmic Disorder and Difficulty (FOD), a condition that the latest diagnostic standards now recognize as affecting up to 72% of premenopausal women.

The Effective Cannabis Newsletter editors reviewed the full abstract and supporting literature, and this review makes a strong case for Cannabis as a legitimate treatment for FOD.

What follows is our breakdown of the key findings, what they mean for patients and providers, and why this research matters right now. We also have a note at the close about what is missing from this paper and why that gap matters as much as what is in it.

What the Abstract Addresses

The abstract opens with a fact that reframes the entire conversation around women's sexual health. According to the DSM-5-TR (2022), up to 72% of premenopausal women experience orgasm difficulty. That figure represents a 71% increase from the 42% reported in the 2013 edition of the same manual. Despite the scale of this public health concern, there are still no FDA-approved pharmaceutical treatments for FOD, and existing behavioral and psychological interventions have shown limited effectiveness.

Mulvehill's abstract argues that Cannabis fills a genuine therapeutic gap here, and that five decades of research supporting that conclusion have been largely overlooked because of outdated clinical and regulatory frameworks built around Cannabis misuse rather than Cannabis medicine.

The Key Findings

Finding 1: The research trail goes back 50 years

One of the most important contributions of this abstract is its documentation of five decades of consistent findings that have gone largely unacknowledged in clinical practice. The earliest evidence dates to 1969, when the first documented case appeared of a woman who could achieve orgasm only while using Cannabis. By 1979, peer-reviewed researchers were formally proposing Cannabis as a potential therapeutic adjunct for sexual disorders.

After a research gap created largely by the War on Drugs, modern studies have replicated and refined those early findings using validated clinical tools.

Kasman et al. (2020) used the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and found that each additional Cannabis use per week was associated with statistically significant improvements in desire, arousal, orgasm, and satisfaction. For each step increase in frequency, the odds of female sexual dysfunction decreased by 21%.

Mulvehill and Tishler (2024) found that among women specifically reporting orgasm difficulty, Cannabis use before partnered sex significantly improved orgasm frequency, ease, and satisfaction, with all outcomes reaching statistical significance (P < .001).

Banbury et al. (2024) conducted the first randomized controlled trial using vaginal Cannabis suppositories with gynecological cancer patients and found significant improvements in orgasm, arousal, and lubrication.

A PRISMA-based systematic review published in 2025, covering 16 studies and data from 8,849 women, found consistent improvements in orgasm frequency, ease, intensity, and multi-orgasmic capacity. The conclusion of that review: Cannabis appears to be a promising therapeutic option for women with orgasmic difficulty.

Finding 2: Cannabis works as a multimodal therapeutic agent

The abstract makes a clinically significant argument that Cannabis is uniquely suited to FOD precisely because FOD is not a single-cause condition. Orgasm difficulty can arise from anxiety, intrusive thoughts during intimacy, trauma history, shame, body dissatisfaction, chronic pain, hormonal changes, medication side effects, relational dynamics, and more. Most pharmaceutical interventions target only one pathway at a time.

The abstract documents that Cannabis reduces anxiety and inhibition, quiets cognitive distraction during sexual activity, heightens arousal and sensory responsiveness, and deepens present-moment bodily awareness. These are precisely the mechanisms that orgasm difficulty disrupts.

Mulvehill cites the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine definition of multimodal therapy and applies it directly to Cannabis. This classification matters clinically. It means Cannabis is not a workaround. It is a legitimate therapeutic strategy for a condition that has resisted single-mechanism approaches.

Finding 3: Dose is the determining variable

Lower to moderate Cannabis doses consistently improve desire, arousal, and orgasm function. Higher doses inhibit the same response. This is a dose-dependent, inverted-U-shaped relationship, confirmed across multiple studies. More is not better. Guided, individualized titration is essential, which means this is not a self-experiment. It is a conversation with a Cannabis clinician.

Finding 4: Policy recognition is arriving

The abstract documents two landmark U.S. policy decisions. Connecticut, in June 2024, became the first state to approve FOD as a qualifying condition for medical Cannabis following a unanimous vote of its Medical Marijuana Board of Physicians. Illinois followed in November 2024, with the Illinois Department of Public Health Director formally concluding that sufficient evidence exists to evaluate Cannabis as a treatment for Female Orgasmic Disorder. New Mexico's Medical Cannabis Advisory Board has also approved the addition, with a final regulatory decision pending.

Internationally, the Canadian Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has formally acknowledged in its Clinical Practice Guideline that Cannabis use before sex has been self-reported to enhance women's sexual function, including orgasm, with dose-dependent effects recognized.

Policy moves slowly. When it moves unanimously, that signals something. These decisions reflect a growing clinical and scientific consensus that this research is credible and actionable.

Cannabis warrants serious consideration as a potential first-line treatment for Female Orgasmic Disorder. Not a supplement. Not a last resort. A primary therapeutic option.

What You Can Take Away From This Research

1. FOD is a real, prevalent, and undertreated condition. Up to 72% of premenopausal women experience orgasm difficulty. That number demands clinical attention. It also means this conversation is not niche. It belongs in primary care offices, gynecology practices, and Cannabis clinics.

2. Cannabis has a documented, decades-long record of improving orgasm function. This is not emerging science. It is science that has been delayed by policy, stigma, and research funding cuts. The findings are consistent across surveys, observational studies, validated FSFI data, and a randomized controlled trial. The pattern is clear.

3. Dose guidance is non-negotiable. Lower to moderate doses enhance orgasmic function. Higher doses impair it. Every person's ECS is different. Therapeutic Cannabis use for FOD requires individualized guidance, not guesswork. This is a key role for certified Cannabis educators and clinicians.

4. Two U.S. states have already acted on this evidence. Connecticut and Illinois now recognize FOD as a qualifying condition for medical Cannabis. This is a policy signal that the evidence has crossed a threshold. More states are expected to follow. Patients and providers need to know this pathway exists.

5. The clinical community needs to catch up. The abstract calls directly on psychiatrists, therapists, and sexual health providers to expand their clinical frameworks. Training gaps are significant. Cannabis medicine for FOD is a new category that most practitioners were never taught, and that education gap has a direct cost to the patient.

6. There is no mention of the ECS, which is vital for understanding human biology. Understanding why Cannabis works here requires understanding the Endocannabinoid System. Cannabinoid receptors in the hypothalamus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex directly regulate the same pathways that govern desire, arousal, pleasure, and emotional safety. Supporting the ECS supports the whole system.

Why This Research Matters Right Now

The Effective Cannabis Newsletter exists to bring evidence-based Cannabis science to the people who need it most. Patients, caregivers, educators, and providers who are trying to make informed decisions in a system that has not always given them the full picture.

This abstract matters because it collects and contextualizes 50 years of findings into a single, accessible, peer-reviewed case. It names the clinical gap clearly. It proposes a solution backed by evidence. And it documents the policy momentum that is already underway.

For patients who have experienced orgasm difficulty and been told there is nothing available, this research says otherwise. For providers who were trained to associate Cannabis primarily with misuse and risk, this abstract represents a call to update that framework. For Cannabis educators and coaches, it reinforces the critical role they play in bridging the gap between the science and the patients who need it.

Quality health is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of being informed, asking the right questions, and having access to the full picture. This research is part of that picture.

A Note From the Editors

This review makes a strong case for Cannabis as a legitimate treatment for FOD, and we are glad it exists. But we would not be doing our job if we did not name what is missing.

The complete absence of the Endocannabinoid System in this abstract is, frankly, a pattern we keep seeing in Cannabis research. It is what holds the field back. You cannot fully advocate for Cannabis as medicine while leaving out the biological system that makes it medicine.

The abstract classifies Cannabis as a multimodal therapeutic agent, describes it reducing anxiety, quieting intrusive thoughts, deepening bodily awareness, and improving orgasm across five decades of research, and yet never once mentions the ECS, CB1 or CB2 receptors, anandamide, or endocannabinoid tone. Those are not technical footnotes. They are the mechanism. They are the reason everything the abstract documents is happening in the first place.

Without the ECS, this paper can only describe the What. Had it been included, readers and clinicians would also understand the Why. That distinction matters. It is the difference between Cannabis advocacy and Cannabis medicine, and it is the difference between a clinician walking away feeling persuaded and walking away feeling equipped to act.

The ECS is not a footnote. It is the foundation. Until researchers, reviewers, and journal editors treat it that way, articles like this will always be stronger than they are complete. We will keep saying it, and we will keep filling in what is missing, one research review at a time.