Pass the bong…and the Viagra

I, like many of my peers, had a bit of a misspent youth.  A few of the wrong guys, a couple of crazy pranks, and lots of experimentation with illicit substances.  So now that I’m all grown up and a responsible sex therapist (ha), I’m seeing a bunch of guys for whom that lifestyle of partying is catching up with them.

I’ve recently seen a few 40 year old men with erectile dysfunction that I think is caused by what I call the Bob Marley Syndrome.  Too much ganja, and exposure to a number of women.  All of these guys had at least one STI (sexually transmitted infections,  the politically correct term for the clap), and they have smoked a lot of the dried week in their lives. 

I know that two of the big reasons for  impotence is smoking and drinking excessively, especially of controlled substances. (included in that list is diabetes, anti-depressants, high blood pressure and it’s treatment, crazy chlorestoral levels).  I haven’t found a study in any of the new literature, and a few patients doesn’t prove cause and effect, but anything that clogs the smallest blood vessels (unfiltered tabbacco, and hemp), and a build up of phages and white blood vessels from an infection (like they are discovering is the reason for heart attacks), may be a scary story for some guys who think they can smoke ’em and love ’em with immunity.  A great excuse for Just Saying No.