New Study Looks at Cannabis and Fertility

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]S[/dropcap]ince legalization in Canada boosted cannabis research, there has been a lot of back-and-forth on the subject of medical cannabis and fertility. While there has been some conflicting information, the latest studies suggest that cannabis does not help increase fertility.

New data from the Canadian Medical Association shows that while more research still needs to be done on the subject, changes in ovulation patterns and reduced sperm motility are associated with smoking cannabis and could make it more difficult to try and have children. “Our best evidence will probably come from men and the best way to look at it would be to look at a cohort of men who have been smoking marijuana at a fairly predictable frequency so we know how much they’re getting and how often, which is hard to know because there’s different concentrations and different strains,” Dr. Sara Ilnitsky, who practices at a fertility clinic in London, Ontario in Canada said, according to the CTV News.

“The consensus for people working in fertility and in andrology is that the effects of cannabis are primarily negative in terms of sperm health and fertility so we know use of cannabis recreationally is associated with about a 30 percent reduction in sperm number and also a decline in sperm function,” added Sarah Kimmins, a researcher in male fertility at the Centre for Research in Reproduction and Development at McGill University in Montreal.

While there have been many recent cannabis and fertility studies in the past few years including how cannabis can increase and improve sex drive it’s clear that the jury is still out on whether folks should use cannabis when they are trying to conceive. More research is set to take place as medical studies ramp up in the next few years.