Cannabis Effect on Female Reproductive Health

*Somenath Ghosh*

### **Abstract**

*Cannabis sativa* is a cheap hallucinating agent used in different parts of the world from time unknown as a part of various religious as well as social practices. *Cannabis* which is a special type of Marijuana can provide temporary relief from analgesia, body pain, and in some other clinical conditions. But impacts of *Cannabis* on reproductive health of males and females are multi-faceted and differentially fatal. In males, *Cannabis* can cause changes in testicular morphology, sperm parameters (in terms of semen quality, sperm morphology, sperm mortality, and sperm motility), male reproductive hormones and finally causing reduced libido. In females, *Cannabis* can reduce female fertility by disrupting hypothalamic release of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), leading to reduced estrogen and progesterone production and anovulatory menstrual cycles. Current research suggest that *Cannabis* may negatively impact on male and female fertility conditions. However, male sterility considering the *Cannabis* impact is totally lacking in human as well as in sub-human primates. However, very limited studies are available on *Cannabis* effect on primate female reproduction considering Rhesus monkeys. Hence, further studies are needed to validate that robust findings in animal models will carry over into human experience.

**Keywords:** *Cannabis*, CB1, female mice, impairment, reproduction, stress
