Weed. Dope. Green. Ganja. Pot. Bud.

Whatever you call it, does it cause moobs? Man boobs. Breasticles. Male breasts.

This topic is hotly debated. Some evidence would suggest there is a relationship between smoking weed and developing moobs. But like most things in life, it's complicated.

One reason we don't have a clear cut answer is that marijuana is an illegal substance and therefore the amount of research is limited. That means there is very little valid scientific reasearch on either the negative or positive side effects of marijuana.

We do know some things though...


What causes man boobs (gynecomastia) is the endrogen/androgen ratio in a man. Anything that causes estrogen to be incresed or androgen (testosterone) to be decreased is going to be a problem.

According to the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, there are conflicting studies regarding THC (the active component in marijuana that makes you high.) It does lower testosterone levels in men. However, other studies seem to not show this effect. Is there a level of smoking where we become immune to the hormonal effects? Were the studies performed to scientific standards? We know it's affect in animals, but there is not much research in humans.

So, on one hand, there may be a causal relationship.

However, this is countered by the people who have had man boobs prior to smoking. It's not unusual for them to develop during puberty So...how could pot have caused the condition? And certainly there are many guys who smoke weed that never get a man rack.

Statistically the best we can come up with is this...
Look at all the non-pot smokers and see how many have man boobs. Figure the percentage.
Look at all the pot smokers and see how many of them have man boobs. Figure the percentage.

Now, the percentage of pot smokers with man boobs is higher. But this is what causes the controversy - no one is doing any research to see why or to isolate it as the only contributing factor. Are there some people who chemical makeup predisposes them to be more susceptible to this effect of THC? We don't know. Are the people who are smoking also consuming a lot of alcohol (that is related to man boobs, and of course, whiskey dick)?

Surgery in one option to rid yourself of gynecomastia. But there are two other non-invasive measures. One is to use Andractim, which is DHT testosterone gel. This prescription medicine is will actually shrink breast tissue. The other is Gynexinwhich really treats the fat that has been stored in that area. It has a 99% success rate.

We know that marijuana effects multiple hormones in the body. Until further research is allowed to be done, we will not know the negative or positive effects on the endocrine system in our bodies.

What do you think?