At long last, it finally happened: my Google alert for “bisexual” led me to a news story that didn’t fill me with rage. We did it, everyone!
The news item in question was a press release from Washington State University, where researchers recently did a study (which you can see here) looking at cannabis use among “sexual minorities” (i.e. the queers). I’ll cut to the chase and say that, as you have probably already guessed, the study’s data showed that bisexuals were more likely to use cannabis both for coping and enhancement (which apparently means expanding one’s awareness and feelings of creativity). Bisexuals: we love the weed. Allegedly.
Some important caveats apply here, of course — ones that neatly illustrate the limitations and challenges of attempting to study The Bisexuals™️. In order to parse their responses by sexual orientation, the researchers asked participants (all between the ages of 18 and 30) to plot their sexual orientation on a 5 point scale: if you chose “mostly homosexual” or “mostly heterosexual,” you got slotted in with the bis, which some folks might dispute. It’s also worth noting that, when all was said and done, researchers found themselves with 3,483 participants classified as “straight,” 1,081 who were labeled “bi,” and a meager 105 who counted as “gay” — which really means that the analysis that was done here was only comparing bisexuals and straights, not bisexuals vs gays vs straights, and thus mostly reiterating the well-established point that queers are more likely to do drugs (the very point that this study was attempting to add complexity and nuance to)… though it is interesting that people who could generally be considered bisexual so dramatically outnumbered the hard and fast gays when bisexuals are always assumed to be a minority within a minority.
The point that the researchers themselves seem particularly intrigued by — at least if that press release is any indication — were the reasons why bisexuals noted they were using cannabis. The study used the Marijuana Motives Measure, which offers five potential reasons for doing a pot: enhancement, conformity, expansion, coping, and social. Coping and enhancement were where the bisexuals really shined. And while coping was, I have to assume, an expected outcome — it’s in line with extensive research that shows that marginalized people are more likely to turn to substance use in order to deal with the sheer pain of being alive in a world that hates you — the data showing that people who self-label as mostly heterosexual, bisexual, and mostly homosexual are more likely to use marijuana to feel more seems to have come as a surprise. Carrie Cuttler, a senior author on the study, suggested that bisexuals might be more likely to be interested in cannabis for enhancement because we’re more open-minded, which… I have mixed feelings about, honestly. Are bisexuals more open-minded? Maybe the ones who are copping to being bisexual (or “mostly" hetero/homosexual) for a research study about weed are.
Jokes aside — and I will admit here that I mostly wanted to write about this research for the jokes, my subhed is pretty choice today — I’m really still stuck on the fact that this study classified more than ten times as many subjects as bi than as gay. Over 1000 bisexuals and just 105 gays? It makes me want to see a further breakdown of the bi group, to get a sense of how many folks were affirmatively IDing as bi and how many folks were getting backed into the category as a “mostly” hetero or homosexual. If you’re mostly straight or gay, does that really make you bi? I mean, I wouldn’t kick you out of the bi club if you used that pattern of attraction to claim the label, but also… what does it actually mean for the purposes of this kind of research? And if the data had shifted slightly — if being “mostly” gay or straight kept you in those categories (which many might argue would be correct), then would we still see the same patterns? I expect that self-IDed bisexuals would likely still be more likely to use marijuana to cope with pain of an unjust world, but would we still seem, ahem, more “open-minded”? Who knows. Maybe it’s the heteroflexibles who are all, wait for it…
(I told you I mostly did this newsletter for the jokes.)
That said, the researchers themselves recognize the limitations of their study, and conclude by advocating for more research into substance use patterns among sexual minorities — and not just the bisexuals and the gays, but trans people too (which I would be very interested in seeing data on given all the anecdotal stories I’ve heard about cannabis being used to numb gender dysphoria). I’m going to wait to see those studies before really buying into the idea that bisexuals are just natural stoners.
But also, you know, I’m happy to accept some edibles independent of being bi.
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In my past bisexual meanderings, I never used cannabis for coping or enhancement. It's been two decades since I have had a same-sex dalliance, but make no mistake...I consume cannabis edibles currently...mostly to aid with anxiety and sleep disturbances. The welcome side effect? Yep. The negative voices around my sexuality get relegated to the background and I feel not only much freer, but as a result, more happily sexual in general. Rather than becoming dependent on the use of cannabis for self-esteem, I use the insight gained while under the influence to raise my self-esteem. And it works. Slowly, but with intention, it has really helped.
Also, in general, my sense of many self-identifying bi people is that there are many, many flavors and variations. My attraction to other men is mostly sexual. Yes, there needs to be trust, consent, communication, but I don't typically feel the desire to be in anything other than a short-term, friendly sexual arrangement. I intentionally didn't use the word casual, because it isn't casual. It's conscious. Intentional. And because of that, it's hot.
You can’t spell cannabis without bis!