Monday, February 14, 2011

More For Amusement Than Serious Concern

A February 14, 2011 LiveScience news report warns:

Marijuana users sometimes report that pot enhances their desire for sex. But a new review of research on marijuana and sexual health suggests that male smokers could be courting sexual dysfunction.

Research on the topic is contradictory and few studies are high-quality, said study researcher Rany Shamloul, a physician with appointments at the University of Ottawa and Queen's University in Canada as well as the University of Cairo. But recent research – including the finding that the penis contains receptors for marijuana's active ingredient  – suggests that young men may want to think about long-term effects before rolling a joint, Shamloul told LiveScience.
 Yes, the work is more in the "this deserves more serious study" rather than "this is very persuasive" category.  But the recent work about THC receptors in penis tissue it does give reason to wonder if the previous very limited studies showing increased erectile dysfunction among male pot smokers might have something to them.

1 comment:

  1. Unremitting reliance on the erection betrays an incomplete understanding of the act of sex. If the lack of a persistent erection stops the show, or the imagination and the raw emotion is not so important to the act as is the pure physical penetration, I'd say that one is missing something crucial.

    ReplyDelete