Doctors blame cannabis for rise in National Health Service Viagra spending
Monday, May 19th, 2008 at 6:32 pm | By: Radical Russ
Oh, that dastardly cannabis! First you turn us into sex crazed dope fiends back in the 1930s, now you shrink our willies and force the gub’mint to spend too much money on boner pills!
Doctors blame cannabis for rise in NHS viagra spending – The Sunday Mail
SOARING demand is forcing Scotland’s health boards to spend £25million a year on impotence drug Viagra.The number of patients being prescribed the blue pill is climbing by 20 per cent a year in some areas.
Experts believe cannabis use could be why more younger men and teens are being treated for impotence.
The majority of those taking Viagra are men under 40 – but there has been a marked increase in the number of teenage boys being treated for erectile dysfunction.
In the last two weeks, two experts have linked cannabis use with impotence in young men.
Ian Russell, an expert on sexual health at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, revealed more Scottish teens than ever before are suffering impotence after smoking cannabis during puberty.
And Derek Rutherford, a specialist in sexual medicine for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, said he had prescribed Viagra to cannabis smokers.
It is believed so much is being spent in the west of Scotland because traditional health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes, coupled with the high incidence of smoking, all increase the likelihood of impotence.
Leading urologist Robyn Webber believes men are no longer embarrassed to admit they have problems in the bedroom.
She said: “Only a few years ago, it was quite rare for men to come forward and seek help for sexual problems. Now it is far more common.”
No, it’s not that there is wall-to-wall advertising for Viagra, more people have heard of Viagra, more people know they can get Viagra, men feel pressure to perform and would buy the drug as an enhancement rather than a treatment, more young people are fatter and eating poorly and playing video games all day, no, no, it’s the reefers!
Hey, I don’t have any problem with men who wish to take a moderately-safe drug for recreational purposes. But I think that the ratio of young men with medical-grade erectile dysfunction to those who use it to make their sex lives better is about the same as the ratio of cancer and AIDS patients in state medical marijuana programs to those who use it to make their daily lives better. (No offense, cuz I think anyone who wants the herb should have it, medical condition or not.)
Could it be that there are just a lot of people who smoke cannabis, and some get ED? And what of the men who report enhanced sex lives from using cannabis? Whoever they may be…
