Till death do you part, you and your penis will remain together forever. Like any living organism, your penis needs T.L.C—touch, love and cooperation. You need to touch it to keep it fit. You need to love it to keep it working. And you need its cooperation to keep you and your partner satisfied. If it fails to cooperate, you may be making some lifestyle choices that affect its functionality.

Your Penis has Overdosed

Your penis is a living organism. It needs proper nutrients and care to survive. Drugs, whether recreational or not, can alter the consumption of nutrients, impede the flow of blood, and damage muscles and nerve endings essential to the penis’s health. Here’s an overview of what the four most common street drugs can do to your penis:

Marijuana—Sweet Mary Jane may not be so sweet once it weakens the parasympathetic nervous functions. Think of these nerve endings as pressure points. Weed ineffectually weakens the points of stimulation. Mix weed together with excessive masturbation, and your body receives less stimulation than before. Long-term abuse can make it hard to stay, well, hard. A weak parasympathetic nerve prevents proper penile stimulation while simultaneously damaging the ejaculatory valve used to stop a premature ejaculation.

Cocaine—Rick James would often claim, “Cocaine is a hell of a drug!” He was right. Similar to Ecstasy, cocaine creates a chemical imbalance in the body. Instead of altering serotonin production, cocaine damages dopamine production, a chemical charged with providing stimulation to the body. Imbalances leave men with little sense of stimulation, resulting in weak, unsustainable erections.

Ecstasy—Known as “Molly” or “E,” MDMA alters the perception of time and space, giving users a feeling of elation and heightened intimacy desires. Ecstasy may enhance your sexual experience, but it too can create serotonin imbalances. Serotonin elevates mood, controls ejaculations and provides stimulation during sex. When serotonin levels experience an imbalance, erections become sporadic, while ejaculations, uncontrollable.

Meth—As with Cocaine, Meth alters the body’s production of dopamine. It too inhibits the production of acetylcholine and nitric oxide, chemicals that help pump blood and provide stimulation to power an erection. Because dopamine imbalances inhibit the production of both nitric oxide and acetylcholine, meth users see a drastic reduction in erectile capacity.