Smoking too much marijuana could lead to a lower sex drive for men, a Ball State professor found in his research.
Justin Lehmiller, acting director of the social psychology graduate program and counseling psychology instructor, wrote a research blog for Playboy about how marijuana affects sex.
While the two different strains of the drug—indica and sativa—would affect the body differently, the chemicals in the cannabis can decrease the stimulation of the male hormones, in animals at least. Tests have not yet been done with humans because of legality issues with the drug. In his research, Lehmiller also found that those who smoke marijuana daily may have more erectile dysfunction issues.
“I disagree in a sense, because marijuana doesn’t inhibit sexual urges from what I have seen,” said Thomas Main, a sophomore public relations and advertising major. “I can see it making you more chill, but not taking away sexual drives."
But the drug may not affect everyone sexually in a negative way. In the survey, many men said marijuana increases the sexual drive, Lehmiller said. However, smoking cannabis can give a false sense of fantasy when a male is having sex because they may think they are lasting for hours, but they could really last for seconds.
Smoking marijuana can make people happy, sleepy or paranoid, and each person has a different experience with it. Alcohol has the same negative effect toward men's sex drives, and it still varies on each person, Lehmiller said.
“It’s not surprising that survey research has found that some people say marijuana enhance sex, whereas others say that it has negative sexual effects,” Lehmiller said.
In research done on animal studies, Lehmiller found marijuana has a negative effect on the erectile tissue of the penis. The researcher did not test on humans because marijuana isn't legal everywhere.
“It makes sense because it is a mellow-type substance so I can see how the sex drive can go down,” said Jasmine Jackson, a sophomore fashion designer major.
Lehmiller started teaching sex education this year at Ball State because he believes there are too many people who are uneducated or under-educated about sex, he said.
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