Regular pot smokers risk harming their fertility even lowering their sperm count by a third, experts have warned. The harm to the sperm count was even more magnified when men combined marijuana with harder drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy.
The study project involved examining a group of 1,215 young Danish men aged between 18 and 28. The participants provided semen and blood samples as well as underwent a physical examination. The researchers also asked whether they used marijuana and other recreational drugs, including cocaine, amphetamine and ecstasy, in the previous three months.
It was found that men who admitted to regularly smoking cannabis had a sperm count that was 29 per cent lower than those who report lighter use, or abstinence. Additionally, when other recreational drugs were taken alongside the regular use of marijuana, the sperm count was reduced by 55 percent.
Dr Jensen, who is the lead author of the study, said that, “We cannot exclude the possibility that the men who used marijuana generally have an unhealthier lifestyle and health behaviour, which may also affect their semen quality and hormone levels,” according to the Daily Mail.
The study was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
