medical marijuana and pregnancy

Can You Use Medical Marijuana During Pregnancy? - RQS Blog

And marijuana dispensaries to market their products to pregnant women for morning sickness.

As soon as Amy Smith * thinking began about having a baby a few years ago, he wondered what he would do his marijuana habit.

Smith has been deployed twice with the US Army, and have returned from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder are severe. At one point, doctors at the VA have him take 22 pills to help her sleep and put out of his depression and anxiety.

Then he found marijuana. Smith went all prescription drugs and began treating himself with smoking marijuana. "It was amazing - how it helped me get out of bed. I'm not afraid to be in the grocery store again. I was not on the verge of losing my mind. " (A resident of Utah, the drug only became legal for medical use last.)

In 2014, Smith became pregnant with her first child. And after Googling research on risk, "dancing around the topic" with the doctors, and had many long and difficult discussion with her husband, she decided to use cannabis 4 to 5 times per week during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

"When my anxiety arises when I was pregnant, I knew what I was in for," he said. "I can accumulate the drug [and] eventually ended up in the hospital. I choose marijuana instead. "

cannabis rapidly changing landscape in the US. in for medical purposes, in 10 states plus DC to, and marijuana are being marketed directly to pregnant women for morning sickness. And now more and more women who are grappling with the question Smith faced: whether to use during pregnancy

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to the screen to be used cannabis in pregnancy and encourage users to quit - even inside. case when the weeds are being used for medicinal purposes -. carrying and breastfeeding

"There is a lot of concern about prenatal cannabis use and potential adverse effects on the fetus," said researchers from the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. "And although the health effects of prenatal marijuana use are complex and not well understood, no amount of marijuana has been proven to be safe during pregnancy."

However, Smith is part of a growing, but still small, group of women who opt in. Besides her husband, she just did not tell a soul about it because, according to him, "This is too much social and legal risks."

There are no official screening system in the state or federal level for marijuana use during pregnancy in the United States. And in many countries, drug use during pregnancy is to make a report of child abuse or neglect.

California rare exception. And the best evidence on the use of marijuana while carrying the baby comes from the Kaiser Permanente Northern California: This is the only health care system in the US big screen all pregnant women for prenatal marijuana use as part of standard prenatal care with urine toxicology and self-report. This means they have an objective way to measure whether it increases or decreases instead of relying solely on self-reports of women.

In that data, with Young-Wolff and colleagues at Kaiser, they find near doubling in the percentage of pregnant women who screened positive for marijuana by self-report and / or toxicological test positive between 2009 and 2016 , from 4 percent to 7 percent.

In particular, the prevalence of marijuana use in the hospital system they are almost twice as high with toxicology tests against what women reported to their doctor, showing that it may be more common during pregnancy than many people recognize.

Weed especially popular among young mothers: 22 percent of pregnant women under the age of 18, and 19 percent were 18 to 24 years, screened positive for marijuana in 2016, which shows that the younger generation can be more relying on marijuana during pregnancy. And Young-Wolff said the data from hospital systems reflect our own use of cannabis during pregnancy, which also shows the rise.

It seems that this shift has to do with the rapid changes in the marijuana laws and culture in recent years. In the midterm November alone, the countries decided to legalize recreational marijuana or medical. And dispensaries in places where weed is legal are often marketed directly in pregnant women. In the recommendation for pregnant women in Colorado marijuana dispensaries, researchers found the majority (69 perpercent) sold the products to treat morning sickness, and 36 percent said women drug is safe to use in pregnancy.

by a team of Young-Wolff at Kaiser Permanente found the pregnant women with nausea and vomiting have possibly four times greater than the use of marijuana than women without nausea and diagnosis vomiting - although it is not clear whether morning sickness, they led them to use weeds or grass exacerbated their morning sickness.

Either way, marketing materials on cannabis products is often overlook an important point, Young-Wolff says: There is a lot we do not understand about the health effects of cannabis generally - and, in particular, on the mother and baby, including the potential risks of the drug in pregnancy

, researchers have known that THC - the active ingredient in marijuana - can cross. More recently, researchers have found that THC also secreted in breast milk until six days after the last use. So it means that the fetus is exposed to THC, and concerns about the health effects of cannabis during pregnancy and breastfeeding is derived mainly from this fact.

One of the best summaries of evidence about the health effects of marijuana coming from out of the main report. More than a dozen experts reviewed more than 10,000 studies published between 1999 and 2016. (Most of the data in the review focused on marijuana smoke.)

Overall, for chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, and cancer patients - but also complicated narrative that weed is a safe drug. The report found that may increase the risk of respiratory problems (when smoked), schizophrenia and psychosis, got into a car accident, and lagging social achievements. The report also found problems associated with pregnancy. In particular, they found the strongest link shows that babies exposed to marijuana in utero tend to have low birth weight.

"But what we can not say whether it was a direct effect or smoking marijuana," said, a professor of maternal and child health at Harvard and chairman of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) committee put out a report. The researchers note that marijuana birth weight findings are consistent with the effects of smoking on the fetus. McCormick explained that the smoke substances increase the carbon monoxide in the blood, which reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood, so it is not as much to the baby.

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"Obviously you can say, 'Do not smoke during pregnancy does not matter what you're smoking.' 'But for the rest, the principle of prudence. Until we know more you may not have to do it, "McCormick concluded.

NAS report was drilled into other health effects during pregnancy, such as whether the babies of mothers who use marijuana are more likely to end up in the NICU or experience sudden infant death syndrome and cognitive and academic achievement later in life challenging. And on important questions, it was vague: The researchers found "limited, not enough, or there is no proof."

However, let's say that there are no approved indications or recommendations regarding the use of prenatal marijuana - even though the effects of prenatal marijuana use are not yet fully understood.

Even so, said Young-Wolff. "[There is] sufficient evidence [of] the relationship between prenatal marijuana use, and birth weight lower descent, and studies show limited correlation with some developmental delays or difficulties with executive function in children -. As problems with impulse control and attention "And it's enough to make health professionals alert.

There are several reasons why the base of research on cannabis in pregnancy is very limited and inconclusive. Again, most of the evidence we have on the health effects of weeds on the fetus comes from studies on smoking - and there are many different ways people ingest marijuana today, through edibles, oil and vape device name just a few.

The contents of THC in the grass also has, which means it may be risky to use during pregnancy. So, as Young-Wolff of Kaiser told me, "Many studies have been done long enough" and do not reflect the current landscape of marijuana or THC level in the current product.

The research out there also tends to be small, without enough STATISTICAl the power to accurately detect the relationship; they often rely on self-reported data, which is deformed when it comes to drug use. Many studies also does not control "confounding factors" or all variables are non-weed which in May biased study results.

"pregnant marijuana users often use other drugs in pregnancy," Young-Wolff explains, "and previous studies have not been able to distinguish between the effects caused by cannabis or other drugs that they may be using."

Finally, the federal government still classifies marijuana as - the league the same laws and regulations as heroin - and it means that researchers have to jump through all kinds of hoops to run the study.

The National Academies calls for this restriction should be relaxed so that we can gain a better understanding of the effects of cannabis in all kinds of different vulnerable groups. Erin Parker, * other weed-smoking mom, agrees. "I think it's reasonable to be passing legislation making a legal drug and have no research on whether or not it is safe for pregnant women."

"They just need to reschedule [the weeds] so it can be investigated," Smith stated. "If the medical research came out and told me there was a significant risk to the long-term health of my children and development, I would listen to the study. But for now, as mothers have done since the beginning of time, I'm doing the best I can. "

* These names have been changed to protect the identity of the woman.

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