cannabisnews.com: Cannabis 'Damages Male Fertility'










  Cannabis 'Damages Male Fertility'

Posted by CN Staff on April 01, 2004 at 19:52:56 PT
Cannabis was reclassified as a class C drug  
Source: BBC News  

Men who smoke cannabis could be damaging their fertility, research carried out by Queen's University Belfast has suggested. The study by the university's Reproductive Medicine Research Group examined the direct effects on sperm function of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis. The group found that THC made sperm less likely to reach the egg to fertilise it. They also discovered that the presence of cannabis impaired another crucial function of sperm - the ability to digest the egg's protective coat with enzymes to aid its penetration.
The government reclassified cannabis to a class C drug in January, putting it on a par with tranquilisers. 'Informed choice' Dr Sheena Lewis, from the university's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said on Wednesday that the recent reclassification of cannabis made research on its effects more important. "The need to determine its effects on male fertility is even greater, so that men can make an informed choice about smoking the drug based on its risks to their health," she said. The idea for the study came after researchers looking at the lifestyle habits of infertile men noticed that many men attending infertility clinics at Belfast's Royal Maternity Hospital were regular cannabis users. Dr Lewis told delegates at the British Fertility Society's annual meeting in Cheltenham that recent experiments on sea urchin sperm suggested that cannabis may be a major cause of infertility. "These experiments on human sperm tell the same story," she said. One in six couples in the UK are affected by infertility, with 40% of these cases due to problems with sperm. Dr Lewis said: "It is estimated that 3.2m people in Britain smoke cannabis, and that figure may now increase. "Add the two together and we may find that the use of recreational drugs will exacerbate male fertility problems." Source: BBC News (UK Web) Published: Wednesday, March 31, 2004Copyright: 2004 BBC Contact: newsonline bbc.co.ukWebsite: http://news.bbc.co.uk/ Related Articles & Web Site:Chronic Cannabis Use in PDFhttp://www.freedomtoexhale.com/ccu.pdfCannabis Danger To Men http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16856.shtmlMarijuana Firmly Linked to Infertilityhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7980.shtml

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Comment #19 posted by FoM on June 18, 2004 at 10:33:26 PT
Raw-B 
Welcome to CNews. I wish I knew the answer to your question. I just don't know. Fertility is a complicated issue. Maybe someone else can shed some light on your question. I went ahead and removed the double post. That happens so don't think twice about it.
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Comment #17 posted by Raw-B on June 18, 2004 at 09:55:38 PT:

Trying to Conceive
I have been smoking marijuana for 16 years. I have been trying to get my wife, of 6 years, pregnant for about 3. I don't know if stopping my use will help us conceive. I am hoping to find information to prove that my 6 oz. a year "recreational" use is, or is not, the underlying factor in our inabitlity to conceive. More information and arguments from both sides will be greatly appreciated. I will give up my smoke, but a bad attitude is sure to follow. My experience has shown me that giving up mj for over a year had no positive effects on my ability to conceive or attitude. Aside from from the escalating cost of this "under the counter" depression/anxiety drug, I am having trouble coping with the fact that some doctor could "prescribe" an alternative...
More information, pro or con, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanx,
     Robbie
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Comment #16 posted by Rev Jonathan Adler on April 02, 2004 at 14:47:47 PT:

THC made me a big family!
Aloha, And having smoked cannabis religiously for 34 years, I am absolute proof that the research alluded to is "ficticious" "altered" "useless" "propaganda" "lies" or just plain stupidity. I have 5 beautiful, intelligent spiritual, motivated kids who lived with me 24/7 until age 18 and we still have a strong, loving family unit. First grandkid due soon! My kids and all their friends know better. Whoodeyfoolin?
Why don't they support and co-venture with me to study the effects of cannabis on ice addiction. I'm open.
Hawaii Medical Marijuana Institute
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Comment #15 posted by BGreen on April 02, 2004 at 11:55:59 PT

I thought the problem was *impotence*
They need to get their stories straight.First it was 'pot smokers are going to have unprotected sex resulting in unwanted pregnancies.'Then they said "smoking pot causes impotence.'Now 'pot smoking causes infertility.'I've got a question: How can you fire a bullet or a blank if you can't even raise the rifle?The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #14 posted by goneposthole on April 02, 2004 at 11:12:44 PT

more crackpot 'studies'
If the drug war were tested for fertility, it would be declared sterile. Name one benefit the drug war has produced. One.Some people are infertile, even sterile. Always been that way and will remain as such. That's life. If you are looking for a reason, environmental pollution factors should take precedence. 
 
Given the eight thousand year history of cannabis and its relationship with humans, mankind should be on the endangered species list.Birds love hempseed. The total population of all species on the North American continent alone is over 20 billion. So much for infertility in the 'aves' class of the animal kingdom.I'll compare apples to oranges. Might as be as ridiculous as these blokes are being.It is unfair and unbalanced, just like the drug war.Too bad I can't use the words 'fair and balanced', Faux News has a lock on those two words.I have used the words 'unfair and unbalanced'. Please ask permission to use them from now on. My answer will be 'No'. I don't have to be fair, nor balanced. I have said it before and I'll say it again:My wife and I have four children. She has only one functioning ovary.She began smoking at age 17 and I began at age 19.  Been smokin' a long time.They're straining on a gnat.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on April 02, 2004 at 10:42:33 PT

A Favor Matt
It is confusing to see Cannabis News as a member name. I wish you would use your name so people don't think it's me that is posting. Thanks.
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Comment #12 posted by kaptinemo on April 02, 2004 at 10:37:20 PT:

Oo-rah for Matt!
It cracked me up! Many thanks! LOL!
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Comment #11 posted by Cannabis News on April 02, 2004 at 10:22:22 PT:

Don't try this at home kids

From personal experience, cannabis, even in large doses
over extended periods, is not a form of birth control. :-)Matt
Proof positive
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Comment #10 posted by Petard on April 02, 2004 at 10:04:17 PT

More Chicken Little rhetoric
That's all this stuff from the Prohib's is, just more about how "the sky is falling, the sky is falling". That's the thing I came away with after watching Pete Jennings' Ecstasy special last night too, essentially the ONDCP, NIDA, DEA, etc., are the Govt. agencies that cried "wolf" once too many times and now even the mainstream press won't believe them. Just like the Ecstacy show last night had scientists speaking of how the people rely on what they see and don't see to judge the truth of Govt. claims, the same thing goes with this so-called "fertility damage". How many people look around and see stoners, medical or recreational, with children? And if fertility is so damaged, then where are the "kids found in grow-op location" coming from that seem to be the headlines almost everyday? Did the kids sprout from seeds too or what? 
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Comment #9 posted by fearfull on April 02, 2004 at 09:06:00 PT

I wonder
Just how did they perform these tests? Did they take live or dead sperm and bath them in pure THC? What levels of THC concentration are we talking about here? The little buggers were probably overcome with amotivational syndrome...yeah right.
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Comment #8 posted by Virgil on April 02, 2004 at 06:47:53 PT

Comment3
RC in the Battle for Canada #20 uses an expression like "manifestation of ignorance" that I admired. Turmel at Medpot groups was commenting on what are to be facts in submitting arguments to the courts in the filings. When some speculation about like the one presented in this article appeared and was presented as fact he would comment that they were using "conjecture" as fact and of course that is just wrong to do. 
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Comment #7 posted by afterburner on April 02, 2004 at 06:35:45 PT:

A Life without Cause Is a Life without Effect
As with many other medical conditions, for which cannabis use is blamed, male infertility may be the *cause* of cannabis use rather than the *effect*. Further study is required: spark one up!
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Comment #6 posted by BigDawg on April 02, 2004 at 04:53:41 PT

Nothing wrong with an informed decision...
... if that decision is based on reliable information.I just saw yesterday that Viagra (can you say recreational drug?) has been linked with low fertility rates. Lets see the prohibitionists try to have THAT drug made schedule one.
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on April 02, 2004 at 04:23:35 PT:

Some major problems here
I have no figures on the use of cannabis in India, but given it's traditional usage and widespread availability, and given the 1 Billion+ (and growing) population that resides on the Indian Subcontinent, I'd say that they have few problems with cannabis-induced male infertility.Quite the opposite. A Westerner's (particularly, an American's) diet contains many artificial compounds that are not found in the bodies of many Third World peoples. Many of the synergistic effects of those compounds have never been fully researched, certainly not long term. Male fertility rates have been dropping steadily the past 4 decades; it is highly doubtful that all of those who reported reproductive problems were using cannabis. To take one element from among literally hundreds or thousands and say it is THE primary factor is sloppy science.But then, the DrugWar has NEVER been based on science, only prejudice; science was dragooned at gunpoint by prohibitionists only in the past 30 years. And it was made plain from the outset that the 'required' answers better be given, regardless of the facts that belie them...or else.
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Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on April 01, 2004 at 21:21:10 PT

Just what the world needs
Slow the birth rate down.
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Comment #3 posted by Virgil on April 01, 2004 at 20:54:22 PT

OK men-If at first you don't suceed try, try again
"Add the two together and we may find that the use of recreational drugs will exacerbate male fertility problems." Nothing like mindless speculation in the cause of wrongness. This is just stupid. Why not demonize on the calories in alcohol and relate it to obesity and say alcohol kills people? Well, reality and priorities just get in the way of fantasy for purposes of demonization. As RC might say of this may this and may that speculation, it is a manifestation of prohibitionist thinking. Such manifestations give us the thought that since cannabis can save epileptics lives, let's prohibit them from preventing death. Cannabis saves lives so let's prohibit it. Good, bad, true, or false it is always let's prohibit cannabis. Let's ignore the concepts of freedom, unalienable rights, preventive medicine, dietary regimes for health, but let's be sure to prohibit cannabis. Let's build a debt for the children and a police state and lock their parents up or anything else, but let's be sure to prohibit cannabis. Prohibiting cannabis is a national priority above speaking about poisoning Iraq with 400,000 pounds of depleted uranium or being real about transfats or the pollution of the ground water or the hazards of chlorine in the drinking water and flouride too. Suspend all priorities and forget about the concept of right and wrong, but what ever you do always prohibit Miracleplant.
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Comment #2 posted by Petard on April 01, 2004 at 20:37:59 PT

Woohoo, Finally a Male Contraceptive
Haven't researchers been searching for the magic potion to give men equal control over birth control? Well, here we have it folks. Ladies, get your man on cannabis and get yourself off that dangerous combination of hormones you've been taking for 40 years and the recent studies show to be hazardous to your health. (As if putting your bodies in a constant state of false pregnancy could somehow be considered healthy in the first place.)Hey guys, don't forget to have your daily dose of cannabis. Do it for your lady. Do it for the "lack of kids" sake. It's our duty to bear our share of the reproductive burden, finally we have the means.
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on April 01, 2004 at 20:15:20 PT

Many men
So "many men" at the infertility clinic are cannabis users. What's the average age, 25-35? How many of those men use cannabis? 20%? That's only about what, about 10 million people in England (no idea). They didn't even tell us what percent of men at the fertility clinic use cannabis! Is it a greater percentage than the general population? There is no science here, it's pathetic. We're just supposed to take their word for it.I have to admit, though, this particular theme of propaganda is one of the more brilliant tactics by the prohibtionists. I have personally seen newlywed friends who, after they go about 2 weeks without getting pregnant, the wife immediately attacks the man's cannabis use - viciously.  I can see it happening, the propaganda works really well. Many of my upscale women friends see their husband's cannabis use as unseemly - status is very important to them, "marijuana" is dirty, unbecoming. The prohibitionists will recruit anyone to serve as foot soldiers in their war of persecution.It's almost like a teenage kid coming home, programmed by a cult like Jim Jones or something. It's like a mind infection.I like people that make their own decisions.
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