Cannabis– Fertility, Fecundity and Fun

Mickie and ­­­­Terrie sittin’ in a tree,

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

First comes love, then comes marriage,

Then comes baby in a baby carriage!

Sittin’—Kissing—Love—Marriage—Baby—Baby Carriage—this classic playground taunting rhyme accurately describes the pathway many people follow in developing a spousal relationship and family. Cannabis can play an important role in the process—usually good, but not always.

Sittin’

Sitting, talking, gazing and wooing is the first stage in developing spousal relationships. Many cannabis consumers enjoy its ability to facilitate conversation, attraction, compatibility and desire. The sharing of a joint can stimulate and inspire far better than a glass of wine.

Kissing

Cannabis’ phenomenal ability to stimulate bodily senses is legendary. Kissing that leads to heavy petting is intense, but use a little cannabis and heavy petting reaches exalted heights that are amazing with sensuality and passion rising exponentially. Remember what it was like when you were a teenager? Cannabis can rekindle that intensity at any age.

Love

Successful heavy petting often leads to love—literally yearning for physical and cerebral intimacy. Poet Henry David Thoreau wrote “Love must be as much a light, as it is a flame.” Cannabis can amplify the intense illumination of that transcendental passion, fan the flames of desire and restore its majesty for all time.

Marriage

Frank Sinatra sang “Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage.” Cannabis can help both love and marriage stay together in bliss and tranquility. In a study published in the journal Psychology and Addictive Behaviors, researchers at Yale, Rutgers and the University of Buffalo found that couples in which both spouses smoked cannabis reported the least amount of domestic violence. The best of marriages can have their stressful moments. Cannabis can ease the stress, hasten reconciliation and rejuvenate the joys and pleasures of being together.

Baby

No need to go into cannabis and the act of procreation—for those of you have done it with cannabis, mere words cannot even begin to recreate this ultimate human experience. If you haven’t, put it on your bucket list.

That being said, cannabis and sex can be problematic—more so for men than women. Moderate consumption enhances over all sexual performance by inducing muscle relaxation, increasing blood flow, decreasing inhibitions and augmenting sensorial stimulation, but high consumption can cause problems in men. Studies show cannabis can cause erectile dysfunction, erratic sperm motility and lowered sperm count. Although it would seem the chance of impregnating a woman is reduced, cannabis should not be considered a male contraceptive.

Men with normal fecundity should experience no problems, but those who are borderline on the fecundity scale would be advised to restrain their intake of cannabis. For procreation activities women can consume as much as they want.

Pregnancy requires more caution as some medical studies have found correlations between cannabis use and low birth weight, behavioral problems, poor growth and lower IQ. Dr. Lester Grinspoon, Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of Marihuana Reconsidered and Marihuana—The Forbidden Medicine, reports many studies regarding cannabis and childbirth fail to take into account socioeconomic factors, degree of prenatal care or behaviors like smoking tobacco.

Numerous studies show no differences in babies exposed to cannabis in utero versus those with no exposure in relation to birth weight and growth rate. A 1999 survey of 12,885 Dutch mothers reported “The use of cannabis is not a major prognostic factor regarding the outcome of pregnancy.”

Many women use cannabis to treat morning sickness and hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) which cause electrolyte imbalances and are potentially life-threatening to a fetus. Drugs used to treat these problems, such as metoclopramide, can have serious negative side effects including Tardive dyskinesia (TD) and neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS). Nevertheless, the use of cannabis during pregnancy must be carefully considered.

Baby Carriage

Caring for a new-born can be arduous, exhausting and extremely stressful. Although most parents provide loving and excellent care, this is where cannabis might be the most useful. A crying, colicky baby at 3 a.m. interrupts sleep and groggy arguments on whose turn it is to provide care. A little toke can provide a more sedate outlook with more compassion for your mate, your family and yourself.