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Dear Stoner: I read that Colorado’s fertility rate is dropping faster than that of any other state in the country. Is that because Colorado legalized marijuana first? I’ve heard that men who smoke have sperm that are too stoned to swim.
Samantha
Dear Samantha: Michael Phelps would disagree. And, as a baby-less man who’s been single most of his life and burned more trees than Jair Bolsonaro, I don’t know whether to be proud or insulted by your suggestion. But you’re not the first person to wonder about legal pot’s dent in our country’s birth rate.
One study involving just over 1,200 men smoking pot once a week for three months showed that 130 of them saw a 29 percent dip in sperm count; another study found that 29 out of 200 women who’d smoked pot within the past three months reportedly put off ovulating from one to several days on average. Organizers of both studies admitted that their research pool was small and limited, relying on personal accounts from participants.
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However, some physicians definitely believe that regular cannabis use by both males and females could increase the chances of infertility, and that smoking pot can exacerbate pre-existing fertility issues. Still, the recent stories about Colorado’s slowing birth rate largely cited high child-care costs, better access to contraceptives and other generational and economic reasons unrelated to marijuana. Guess I’ve lost another excuse for my mother.
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