Impact of Tobacco and Marijuana on Infertility and Early Reproductive Wastage

Abstract

Reducing exposure to tobacco and marijuana during preconception and early pregnancy is a critical area of intervention for obstetricians, gynecologists, and other reproductive health care professionals. Beyond the deleterious personal health effects, both substances have been extensively associated with short-term and long-term detrimental effects to gametogenesis, fecundity, as well as tissue level effects in the reproductive tracts. When tobacco and marijuana do not impair the ability to achieve pregnancy, an increasing body of literature suggests either may be associated with increased risk of early pregnancy loss and reproductive wastage. In this review, we will discuss what is known about how tobacco and marijuana affect the male and female reproductive systems and highlight how these consequences may impair attempts at successful conception and pregnancy continuation beyond the first trimester.