Study: Pot smoking lowers fertility
 

(submitted by BigBad)
Sperm in regular users burnout before reaching the egg

WASHINGTON - Sperm in men who smoke marijuana regularly lose stamina and burn out which may prevent conception, said a study released Monday.

The study by the State University of New York in Buffalo, New York, is the first to focus on the swimming patterns of sperm in men who smoke marijuana, the authors say.

“The sperm from marijuana smokers were moving too fast too early,” said Lani Burkman, lead author of the study, in a statement.

“To attach itself to the egg, the sperm has to swim like mad — that’s hyper activation — and they have to be vigorous at the right time,” Burkman said. “Smoking marijuana messes up the natural regulatory system.”

“The timing was all wrong. These sperm will experience burnout before they reach the egg and would not be capable of fertilization.”

The study, released at the annual conference of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in San Antonio, found that men who smoke marijuana have less sperm because of lower quantities of seminal fluid compared to fertile men.

One of the ingredients of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the psychoactive chemical that causes people to feel ”high.”

“We don’t know exactly what is happening to change sperm functioning,” said Burkman, “but we think it is one of two things: THC may be causing improper timing of sperm function by direct stimulation, or it may be bypassing natural inhibition mechanisms. Whatever the cause, the sperm are swimming too fast too early.”

The speed, volume, shape, density, movement and count of sperm were studied in both men whose sperm is fertile and marijuana smokers.

A previous study found that the enzyme cap of human sperm changed when exposed to high levels of THC. As a result, the sperm has a harder time attaching to the egg before fertilization.

Even if people stop smoking marijuana, THC gets stored in the body fat and may take several months before leaving the body, Burkman said.

“I definitely would advise anyone trying to conceive not to smoke marijuana, and that would include women as well as men,” Burkman said.

Believe me this is true......... I experienced this firsthand with an ex-husband of mine. We tried for 10 years to have children. I went thru the tests....It WASN'T me. :(
It's called "low motility"

You also lose your ability to keep a hardon.

Well duh, the sperm are stoned..even I could figure that out! lol

I knew about the stoned sperm but CGT's comment about the hardon surprised me. I was married to a pothead who smoked a small joint every night and there were no difficulties raising the flag pole.

I know the harder drugs make it difficult for men to cum, tho'.

Well, duh! Burning your lungs out with any substance is going to have an effect on the rest of your body.

What I'd really be itnerested in finding out, is there a difference in sperm motility in tobacco smokers vs in pot smokers?

IOW, as far as sperm motility, does it make any real difference *what* you smoke?

On longtime tokers......Yes it eventually catches up with them. I've been with more than one and found the same results.

My ex was a daily smoker for over 20 years & many Canucks are longtime tokers. I just haven't found that it happens. Then again, they say smoking cigarettes causes impotency. Maybe PF can enlighten us on that? :)

Completely non-scientific here, but I have 2 very good examples in my home that seem to fly in the face of all the data...

well jee... about losing a hard on? i don't think thats possible... im a regular pot smoker and i have no problems..

neither does my brother who is also a regular pot smoker.. and he just had a baby.. So... i don't really want to know what type of degenerates they found to take these tests.. but its only bullshit the government allows to be released..

that way it scares little children.. and they think their winky's will fall off if they touch a joint.. i say fuck it.. fire it up for them.. at least that way you know who to blame and beat the shit out of...

Maybe they're rushing around because they feel like they're moving along at a ridiculously slow pace.

ROFL I think you're on to something there!