Stoners up for the Darwin Award

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3186686.stm


Marijuana smoking damages sperm
Men who smoke marijuana frequently damage their fertility in several different ways, research suggests.
Scientists at Buffalo University found regular smokers had significantly less seminal fluid, and a lower sperm count.

Their sperm were also more likely to swim too fast too early, leading to burn-out before they reach the egg.

Lead researcher Dr Lani Burkman said: "The bottom line is, the active ingredients in marijuana are doing something to sperm."

Marijuana contains several chemicals known to have an impact on human physiology, including THC (tetrahydrocannabinol).
The researchers believe that THC may disrupt the way sperm swim, or it may block mechanisms designed to weed out malfunctioning sperm.

Key receptors

It is known that human sperm contains receptors which are stimulated by substances like THC and other cannabis-related chemicals.

Tests have shown that sperm exposed to high levels of THC began to swim in an abnormal fashion, and were less able to attach to an egg so that fertilisation could take place.

In the current study, Dr Burkman's team carried out a battery of tests on sperm samples taken from 22 men who had smoked marijuana on average 14 times a week for at least five years.

In particular, the scientists assessed the sperm to see when they began to swim in a very vigorous fashion.

It is vital that a sperm begins to swimming vigorously as it approaches the egg to improve its changes of successful fertilisation. However, if it begins to swim too fast too soon its changes of reaching the egg are significantly reduced.

Dr Burkman said: "The sperm from marijuana smokers were moving too fast too early.

"The timing was all wrong. These sperm will experience burnout before they reach the egg and would not be capable of fertilization."

[MercutioATC]

1. Gee, and I thought marijuana bieng illegal was just a racist plot....

...you mean it IS actually bad for you???



:eyes:

[kimchi]

2. Only if you are a man who wants to make a baby.

And I can guarantee that those are NOT in the majority.

[el_gato]

3. are you saying this is a case for prohibition

pretty weak

cigarrettes are bad for you too
does that mean they should be illegal too?

[ixion]

4. gee, does that mean that we should outlaw everything that's bad for you?

fast food?
snacks?

caffiene (powerful alkaloid stimulant, lethel in high doses)?

alcohol?

it's none of your business if someone wants to put something bad into their body, IMO, and besides, on a 'that's bad for you scale' pot is way down on the list, being that it is non lethal and non toxic.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

8. who said anything about outlawing it?

I think marijuana should be legal, but that doesn't mean stoners aren't hurting themselves, just like those who abuse alcohol and other drugs.

[ixion]

12. but my point was that most things hurt you...

not trying to flame you... :-)

Life: not good for you, in the long run.

[foo_bar]

5. hey, we were all born

[gWbush is Mabus]

6. OMG! they used 22 people

wow...that must be a real representative sample.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

11. It's a conspiracy to make smoking pot seem unhealthy

right? :)

[el_gato]

23. no one forces you to smoke pot

but you seem intent on bashing people who like to smoke it

why?

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

28. hey, I've smoked pot

It's quite pleasurable, and as far as recreational drugs go, it's not that harmful. But I have to admit I get really tired of potheads telling me that weed cures disease, hemp can completely replace oil and solve our environmental problems, and smoking pot doesn't cause cancer. Someone even tried to tell me his two joints a day was heathier than coffee.

"I smoke two joints before I smoke two joints, and then I smoke two more"

:)

[GumboYaYa]

7. As long as the gun ain't broke,

I don't mind firing blanks.

[leanings]

9. If you're getting high twice a day

and have been for the last five years, maybe it's not quite time for you to have a kid anyhow.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

10. very good point

:)

[ixion]

14. I've known people who've smoked for years and had kids

and there kids were just fine. I think there's more to it than just whether you've smoked pot or not.

[Jacobin]

16. You're talkin to one

:-)

Tons of kids after 35 years of (moderate) pot smoking.

Large healthy boys.

[jayfish]

26. And From What Personal Experience Do You Take Such Wisdom?

I can tell you that a friend of mine :eyes: fits that description plus five years and is doing just fine thank you very much.

Jay

[Township75]

13. Hey, New Birth Control!

maybe insurance will cover it one day.

[Jacobin]

15. Didn't work for me.......

:-)

At all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JVS]

17. I smell a rat,

They tell you it makes you shoot blanks. You smoke it. You knock someone up. They make a commercial for TV that paints pregnancy as a consequence of pot smoking.

[Maine-i-acs]

18. Legalize it = no more liberals!

Maybe the BFEE will recognise the usefulness of this survey.

If marijuana is legal, then all the poor people, liberals, and people of color will smoke it - becoming infertile in the process, and leading to the decline of the Underclass.

[Must_B_Free]

19. LOL

"Tests have shown that sperm exposed to high levels of THC began to swim in an abnormal fashion, and were less able to attach to an egg so that fertilisation could take place."

Anything exposed to high levels of anything will behave abnormally. And we don't get to see how the test was done that contributed to this statement.

"In the current study, Dr Burkman's team carried out a battery of tests on sperm samples taken from 22 men who had smoked marijuana on average 14 times a week for at least five years."

So this confirms that the method of the previous study mentioned above was not the same as the current one.

22 is a tiny sample. I don't see any mention of who they are comparing against. Shouldn't comparitive tests include a normal group as well, for the purpose of comparison? And what is a normal goup anyway? There could be any variety of factors affecting the results - such as diet, exercise, climate, age, etc....

[Mairead]

34. "There could be any variety of factors affecting the results "

Exactly. This is almost a classic case of bad methodology. There's no way with a sample size of 22 that you can control for random factors.

Drug-warrior 'science', I love it :(

[frylock]

20. and bob marley sired how many children?

I get sick and damn tired of these old wives tales.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

21. "Old Wives' Tales"?

Surely you must be joking? Lazy sperm doesn't mean infertile. I suppose smoking doesn't really cause cancer either?

[frylock]

22. write up a list of things that don't cause cancer..

it'll be far shorter.

[DrWeird]

29. Yes, old wives tale- smoking makes you infertile.

It's right up there with smoking marijuana causes birth defects and smoking marijuana causes teen pregnancy.

Touted for years by the DARE types, and backed up with obviously fraudulent studies that are about as believable as the one that proves masturbation causes blindness.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

32. I thought the study showed

that heavy marijuana smoking causes a decrease in sperm quality, which according to this study, it does.

I remember DARE from school, and at no time did they say that marijuana causes teen pregnancy (although they did tell some tall tales about drug use in general).

[DrWeird]

36. Yeah, smoking marijuana causes infertility.

Just like the study that proved marijuana makes you go insane and jump out of a high rise window.

DARE will say anything they can make up. Marijuana causes teen pregnancy, marijuana makes you shoot your best friend in the head, marijuana makes you help terrorists, marijuana makes you rape underage girls, marijuana makes you run over little girls on their bicycles, marijuana makes you try harder drugs. And of course questioning the harmful effects of marijuana makes you unamerican.

It's all a bunch of bullshit. Just like this recent study.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

37. this study is bullshit?

How so?

"Just like the study that proved marijuana makes you go insane and jump out of a high rise window."

There was no study that said that.

"Marijuana causes teen pregnancy, marijuana makes you shoot your best friend in the head, marijuana makes you help terrorists, marijuana makes you rape underage girls, marijuana makes you run over little girls on their bicycles, marijuana makes you try harder drugs. And of course questioning the harmful effects of marijuana makes you unamerican."

Never heard anyone say that.

[DrWeird]

39. It's 22 subjects.

And it's being publicized like it's real proof.

A few decades back, the DEA released a studying proving marijuana can kill you. When they were sued under the freedom of information act to see how they did the study, it turned out they determined it was lethal by shoving 40 pounds of marijuana plants down a dogs throat (with a broom handle) until the dog died. Any study about the evils of marijuana that are highly publicized should be looked at with a questioning eye. And since this study has a miniscule sample size, there's no way you can draw a conclusion. Unless you look at larger studies with far greater sample sizes, and they show no effect on fertility.

[mike_c]

24. as the proud recipient of a 23 year old...

...vasectomy, this is the absolute least of my worries!

[THUNDER HANDS]

25. why wouldn't people consider this a good thing?

Would you want a stoner taking care of a newborn baby?

I wouldn't.

(speaking as someone who smokes often).

[onebigbadwulf]

27. Wrong focus

I would be more worried about the side effects of lowered testosterone levels- smaller balls, higher voice, less muscle- than how my sperm swim.

[DrWeird]

31. So you're saying marijuana smokers make bad parents?

How about people who have a beer when they get home from work?

[THUNDER HANDS]

33. raising newborns

Requires constant attention and a clear head.

Potheads (not necessarily people who smoke once in a while) are probably not the best people to raise a baby.

I mean, if you're smoking twice a day, then you're stoned when the child is waking up (if you 'wake-and-bake') and when you've just put them down to sleep.

To do that every day is just inviting trouble.

And people who have a beer when they get home are okay. I don't think anyone can get drunk off of one beer. ANd if they can, they don't drink beer very often.

[maxsolomon]

38. i knew a mom

whose infants would only sleep while being driven about. when she was stressed, she'd put them in the car & blaze up while driving aimlessly. NO ONE GOT HURT.

i also know that giving infants a thimble of whiskey to help them sleep used to be a common practice. NO ONE GOT HURT.

breast feeing mothers shouldn't smoke as they'll get the kids baked on the milk, but pot usage doesn't make you an incompetent zombie.

that's oxycontin you're thinking of.

[Friar]

30. they just never stop, do they?

http://www.marijuana.com/myths.php3

[Terwilliger]

35. Yes, and tomorrow they'll discover botulinum in Basra

:eyes: