Is Weed Making You Sexually Dysfunctional?
Is smoking marijuana making you bad at sex? "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," writes LiveScience. Dr. Rany Shamloul of the University of Ottawa, Queen's University in Canada and the University of Cairo (Wow! Good for him!) tells the website, "it's a strong message to our younger generations and younger men." Indeed!
Wait, what? What's this "strong message," exactly? It's kind of unclear. As Dr. Shamloul says, "we are really missing... clinical studies." And also, "we need well-designed, placebo-control studies examining marijuana's effect in both the short-term and long-term." Because all this new study tells us is that there are THC receptors "in penis tissue from five male patients and six rhesus monkeys," (which, uh, does this mean that your dick can get high, or am I just 13 years old?) and then another couple studies that say that THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) "has an inhibitory effect on the muscle."
That being said, another study "found that marijuana users have a slightly elevated risk of inhibited orgasms and pain during sex." So I guess, young men and rhesus monkeys who are the worrying type might want to be thinking about long-term effects before rolling a joint? My understanding is that controlled studies also show that having sex while you're high is awesome, so for now I'll just wait it out.
