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Cannabis Smoking and Infertility in UK

Men who smoke cannabis are more susceptible to infertility, according to a study conducted by the Reproductive Medicine Research Group.

Reproductive Medicine Research Group of Queen’s University, Belfast, has been devoted to Andrology, the study of male reproductive function for the past five years. Its researchers are of the opinion that Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, one of the key ingredients of cannabis, slows down the sperm’s mobility and cripples its ability to penetrate the egg for fertilisation. Also, another principle function of the sperm- to swallow the egg’s protective enzymatic shield in order to facilitate its penetration - is rendered futile due to the presence of cannabis.

According to the researchers, most infertile men visiting Belfast’s Royal Maternity Hospital for fertility queries and treatments were found to be smoking cannabis frequently. This inspired them to conduct a more in-depth study of Tetrahydrocannabinol and its staggeringly negative impact on infertility.

The study is the compilation of fifty-one semen specimens that were mingled with THC or simply incubated as a control. Samples containing THC were found to be 45% less motile and active. Almost 30% of sperms mixed with THC didn’t release the enzymes necessary to penetrate the egg.

Dr Sheena Lewis, from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, who leads the Reproductive Medicine Research Group, applied the same experiment on the sperms of sea-urchins. The results were strikingly similar to that of human-sperms- cannabis made all the sperms of sea-urchins infertile by choking all the sperm functions necessary for fertilisation.

Dr. Lewis says: “Following the Government's recent reclassification of cannabis from Class B to Class C the need to determine its effects on male fertility is even greater so that men can make an informed choice about smoking the drug if it is a health risk.

“Infertility already affects one in six couples across the United Kingdom and 40 per cent of these cases are due to problems with sperm.”

One of the researchers of the study, Dr Lyn Whann says that an estimated 3.2 million Britons smoke cannabis. She expresses her worries over the fact that if men don’t quit smoking cannabis, these figures will double in no time.