Study Finds The Effect Of Marijuana On Sperm Quality

If you want to bed a dad, stop smoking marijuana.

A study has discovered the effect of marijuana on sperm is a negative one. The study found that smoking weed affects sperm quality which puts fertility at risk if you’re trying to have a kid.

The study, Modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for poor sperm morphology, published in the medical journal Human Reproduction, looked at sperm samples to determine how a range of behaviors may affect sperm quality.

Marijuana Sperm Study

To analyze the effect of marijuana on sperm, over 2,000 men who were over 18 years old were recruited in 14 fertility clinics across the UK during a 37-month period.

Men were excluded if they had a known medical condition which could be the cause of their infertility (genetic conditions such as cystic fibrosis or Kartagener’s syndrome), or if they had ever undergone treatment that could be a cause of their infertility (e.g. chemotherapy, radiotherapy or immunosuppressive therapy).

Each guy’s lifestyle habits were also included. This include things such as clothing, recreational drug use, fertility history, height, weight, etc…

Study Results

Men who used marijuana in the 3 months prior to the sample collection were likely to have less than 4% normal sperm proving the bad effect of marijuana on sperm quality.

The study also found that men who stopped using marijuana for 6 or more days saw their sperm improve.

Study author Dr. Alan Pacey told FoxNews.com “I do know there is some work in laboratory animals that suggests [marijuana] can affect the way the DNA in the sperm is packaged together, and that’s significant. When sperm are made, the DNA they maintain has to be packaged in the head very tightly, and when that process doesn’t work properly, you get an abnormal sperm. So the cannabis is maybe interrupting that DNA folding.”

The study found no association between a man’s BMI (body mass index), type of underwear, smoking or alcohol consumption. The findings of the study suggests that a man’s lifestyle has very little impact on sperm quality.

“This suggests your body mass index, your age, your ethnicity, your previous medical history, and your alcohol consumption didn’t have any effect,” Pacey said. “What happens when people are trying for a baby, they tend to become really healthy, they often go on crazy episodes of putting out things that are part of their everyday life, and the evidence to support that is actually pretty weak.”

Pacey noted that if you are trying to have a baby, you should stop smoking weed for some time because it usually “takes up to three months to make a sperm.”

Pacey noted for couples who are trying to have a baby, men may want to abstain from cannabis use for some time, as it usually takes up to three months to make a sperm. Otherwise, the number one predictor of normal sperm morphology and male fertility is ultimately genetics.



Please leave your thoughts on the effect of marijuana on sperm below.