Does Marijuana Affect Testosterone?

While there is a debate about masculinity in the US, there is a notion that marijuana lowers male testosterone. The idea that the stoner sitting on the couch is lazy is ingrained in our minds. For those who remember the ’70s show, the elderly shopkeeper was a true stoner hippie model.

Testosterone is a sex hormone that plays an important role in the body. In men, it is believed to regulate sex drive (libido), bone mass, fat distribution, muscle mass and strength, and red blood cell and sperm production. When combined with estrogen, the female sex hormone, testosterone helps women grow, maintain, and repair a woman’s reproductive tissue, bone mass, and human behavior

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The relationship between marijuana and tEstosterone is complicated. Luckily, more funding is now available for research, and we’re unpacking data to find out more cannabis pros and cons.

RELATED: Science says medical marijuana improves quality of life

A 2018 study in Andrology looked at healthy men without clinically low testosterone who had used marijuana at some point in the past five years. Researchers found that healthy men who had smoked in the past 30 days had higher serum testosterone levels than those who had not smoked for a long time. Another study published in the World Journal of Urology in 2020 found similar results — that marijuana use was associated with a small increase in testosterone levels.

It’s worth noting that even the non-elevated levels were still clinically healthy, points out Jonathon Lisano, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder who studies the effects of cannabis on health and exercise.

Studies have shown that heavy drinking leads to decreased levels of testosterone in the blood. Alcohol also impairs the function of testicular Sertoli cells, which play an important role in sperm maturation. It stands to reason that heavy marijuana use would produce the same result.

Chronic marijuana use can impact male fertility and reproductive outcomes, according to a new report published online in Oregon Health & Science University’s journal Fertility & Sterility. In non-human primates, the study examines for the first time the effects of substance use on testicular function via a route of administration and dosage that mirrors current human use.

So what does it mean? Most of the time, if you’re already healthy, that means moderation rather than daily, exercise rather than couchsurfing, and maintaining a balance.

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There is a lot to think about and more research to do about the benefits of marijuana, and medical marijuana in particular.