marijuana use affects males is by Gynecomastia. Gynecomastia is the enlargement of the male breast tissue (Jones 51). This disease is not well known to the general public. This may be because males who get the disease usually keep the symptoms to themselves and not risk embarrassment. The next problem with males and marijuana is the reduction of their sperm count. "Sperm counts in males were measured, and after a month of heavy smoking the sperm count was reduced by as much as 70 percent" (Jones 62). Along with the reduction of the sperm count, the male has a reduction of testosterone. Testosterone is the principal male hormone and responsible for the growth of the male reproductive system. This drop in the sperm count and reduction of testosterone may not seem too important now but like I mentioned before, "81 percent of you are under age 25" and this may affect your lives dramatically in the future. Marijuana affects females by disrupting nerve pathways in the brain which may lead to infertility. A study done on monkeys at the University of California at Davis, showed that when the female monkeys were given increased amounts of THC they were more likely to neglect their offspring (Jones 71). A problem with marijuana use by pregnant females is the possibility that the baby may me born with deformities or even stillborn (Jones 72). Females have also shown an increase in testosterone levels which is the opposite of the male user. An affect that takes no side in users of marijuana is short term memory loss. (Ray 435). In everyday use, the marijuana user has a hard time recalling information that they may have just learned minutes before. The frequent user may also experience loss in time sense. With this the marijuana user feels that more time has passed than actually has elapsed. The final thing usually affected is tracking behavior. This may lead to crashing a motor vehicle because the impaired driver could not keep their attention on t...
