Pot smokers, you may want to cut back if you’re thinking about making a baby. A new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology has shown that men who smoke more than once a week are lowering their sperm count by a third! And if you’re mixing weed with other drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy, then your are lowering it even more!
Men who smoke marijuana can still get a woman pregnant but as we know, some men are less fertile than others depending on what stage in life they are in. Those men who are on the borderline of infertility increase their risk by smoking pot.
Women aren’t in the clear either! Women who smoke weed often have THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) present in their reproductive organs. If the sperm of a man who doesn’t smoke weed reaches the female smoker’s reproductive organs it can alter and cause them to become infertile.
So now that you have an idea of how potent this THC can really be you may be wondering what exactly it is doing to a male smoker’s sperm count…
In the study mentioned earlier Tina Kold Jensen who was the lead author of the study conducted at the University of Copenhagen asked a group of 1,200 Danish men ranging from the ages of 18-28. They were asked if they used marijuana or other drugs like amphetamine, ecstasy, and cocaine in the last three months and if so, how often. Following this they were asked to provide a semen sample, a blood sample, and also underwent a physical examination.
Using this data they compared their semen samples to measure the count & concentrations.
The study determined that 45% of the participants admitted to smoking within the last three months. 10% admitted to smoking on top of other drugs. The men who smoke on a regular had a sperm count of 29% lower than the ones who didn’t smoke as often or at all. The men who mixed drugs were found to have reduced their sperm count by 55% & concentration by 52%.
It is still not clear why the drug lower men’s sperm count. Some researchers believe the interaction of THC with certain receptors in the testes could be a cause.
If you’re on the path of creating “mini me’s” you may want to think twice before your next smoke.
written by
