Smoking Marijuana Linked to Better Sperm Counts in Surprising Study

Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA found contradictory results in a study spanning from 2000-2017 about how consuming cannabis can effect the sperm count in men. Prevoiusly researchers believed that like alcohol and tobacco, cannabis had negative effects on a man's sperm count, however this newer study is showing that might not be true. Researchers found that the average sperm count of men who had ever smoked cannabis was 63 million sperm per millimeter of semen, while the count of men who had never smoked cannabis was 45 million per millimeter. Adding to that, only 5% of cannabis consumers had a sperm count considered lower than average while 12% were lower than normal of those who had never consumed cannabis.  The study adjust for factors of alcohol and tobacco use, however the results are inconclusive if the sperm count and cannabis use was more related to those with higher testosterone, light to moderate cannabis use, or the specific group of men who were studied at the fertility clinic.

The researchers found that men who reported ever having smoked marijuana had an average sperm concentration of 63 million sperm per milliliter of semen, compared with 45 million sperm per milliliter of semen among those who had never used marijuana. The findings held even after the researchers took into account some factors that could have affected sperm concentration, such as age, cigarette smoking and alcohol use.