This archive report was first published on 12 November 2019.
Published on November 12, 2019, a study on the effects of marijuana on male fertility has yielded surprising results.
Researchers at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston analyzed semen samples from over 600 men attending a fertility clinic and found that those who had smoked marijuana had higher sperm counts than non-users.
The study, which collected 1,143 semen samples between 2000 and 2017, found that men who had smoked marijuana had an average sperm count of 62.7 million sperm per millilitre, compared to 45.4 million/mL in those who had never smoked the drug.
However, experts are quick to point out that the study does not necessarily mean that smoking marijuana increases the chances of fatherhood.
Dr. Jorge Chavarro, the lead researcher, said, “These unexpected findings highlight how little we know about the reproductive health effects of marijuana, and in fact of the health effects of marijuana in general.”
Dr. Feiby Nassan, another member of the Harvard team, suggested that the association could be due to the fact that men with higher testosterone levels are more likely to engage in risk-seeking behaviors, including smoking marijuana.
Leading British expert Allan Pacey, Professor of Andrology at the University of Sheffield, echoed this view, saying, “As the authors point out, men with higher sperm concentrations are likely to have more testosterone in their bodies and thus may be more likely to smoke marijuana because simply they are willing to take more risks.”
