Man hospitalized over 12-hour erection told it's because he smoked too much weed

A Georgia man hospitalized for a 12-hour erection was reportedly told it happened because he smoked too much weed.

The unusual incident was made public in the Journal of Cannabis Research, which detailed the 32-year-old's plight. The case report relays the incident thus:

"We present the case of a healthy 32-year-old African American man who presents to the emergency department with persistent erection for six hrs not related to sexual activity. Notably, the patient had been seen two weeks prior in our emergency department for a persistent erection lasting twelve hrs".

The man was later diagnosed with priapism; a condition "defined by an erection that persists for longer than four hours that is not related to sexual stimulation".

This is the bizarre moment a Tennessee Man lit up a joint in court: 

The article stated: "We present the case of a healthy 32-year-old African American man who presents to the emergency department with persistent erection for six hrs not related to sexual activity.

"He admitted to smoking cannabis several nights per week for the past six months, including within the two hour period prior to each presenting episode of priapism. During this time, the patient had four or more episodes of a persistent erection lasting close to four hours that were self-resolving."

While discussing his condition with doctors, the man admitted to regularly smoking cannabis when he was aged 16 to 17, which caused long-lasting erections, but none of them required hospitalization.

He then stopped consuming the drug in his twenties and never had an instance of priapism. The man added that he does not have any "history of psychiatric disease and took no prescribed or over-the-counter medications".

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In an interview with Insider, however, Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt said that the findings should not be taken too seriously, saying, "Everything here is hypothetical until validated by research."

"Marijuana is a vasodilator so it could lead to over-dilation of the penile vessels. Oftentimes marijuana can be tainted with other drugs/chemicals, so the additives could be the cause of the problem."

That being said, the severity of priapism should not be underestimated.

Brahmbhatt said: "The concern is if the erection lasts more than four hours the penis can lose vital oxygen and nutrients. This can lead to pain, swelling, loss of future erections, and loss of the penis."