Pregnancy and Marijuana
First things first. Anyone dispensing any sort of advice concerning medicine must have a disclaimer. This is one of the reasons why every single article you ever read about online starts out with “make sure to consult your doctor first”. So. Yeah. Make sure to consult your doctor about any questions you have.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way. Let’s get into the issue at hand.
Many times the question will arise whether or not it is a good idea to smoke marijuana during pregnancy. This is obviously a huge question that involves a host a factors. If you stumbled upon this page you’re obviously looking for answers. But to be fair, there really isn’t any besides anecdotal evidence. The first thing to consider is that one must be very careful with the information that is given out to women during pregnancy. Pregnant women are already in a highly emotional state and can be easily frightened by propaganda. Unfortunately many of those against marijuana are willing to put out disinformation concerning the scientific evidence as to whether marijuana is truly harmful to a fetus during pregnancy for their own business interests. There simply isn’t enough evidence to make a claim that marijuana in any way does any harm. According to DrugPolicy.Org’s own website they state that
Studies of newborns, infants, and children show no consistent physical, developmental, or cognitive deficits related to prenatal marijuana exposure. Marijuana had no reliable impact on birth size, length of gestation, neurological development, or the occurrence of physical abnormalities. The administration of hundreds of tests to older children has revealed only minor differences between offspring of marijuana users and nonusers, and some are positive rather than negative. Two unconfirmed case-control studies identified prenatal marijuana exposure as one of many factors statistically associated with childhood cancer. Given other available evidence, it is highly unlikely that marijuana causes cancer in children.
But this is possibly only one side to the story. So let’s be fair. The first thing a woman must understand is that prescription drugs (given to pregnant women by their doctors) have accounted for a thousand times more birth defects than anything ever directly tied to marijuana. The prescription drug market is extremely powerful and because of the many symptoms that women face during pregnancy the pharmaceutical companies see a way to make a profit by alleviating these symptoms. The drugs that are put on the market do undergo some testing (many times on animals, not humans) but there are still literally hundreds of thousands of cases of prescription drugs which have been directly connected to birth defects. Thalidomide being the most extreme example where hundreds of thousands of women were given the drug which was directly tied to their babies being born with no arms and legs. I won’t post any pictures here, but a quick google search will show what the result of this drug were. However there are more common substances which can also have devastating effects on a developing fetus.
Alcohol, Caffeine, and Tobacco have all been extensively studied and all of these are currently not recommended for repeated consumption during pregnancy. Unlike the studies concerning marijuana there is hard evidence that all three of these legal substances can adversely effect a woman’s child during pregnancy. However, this is where we get an important lesson about how “Science” works concerning these types of studies. All three of these substances (alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco) also had industry run tests which studied their effects on pregnancy. While now it is considered to be fact that it is a bad idea to use these substances during pregnancy; it was only 20 years ago that all three were fighting to try and prove the opposite. “Science” unfortunately many times takes a back seat as corporate interests ensure that the money keeps flowing. Of course the opposite is also true and keeping marijuana “unsafe” during pregnancy also makes many pharmaceutical companies a lot of money because pregnant women will use their products instead of marijuana for pain relief, morning sickness, inducing hunger etc. This means that it is in the best interest of many companies to ensure that marijuana remains “unsafe” during pregnancy.
BUT! The one thing that should be considered is that most anything a woman ingests can also have an effect on a developing fetus. This includes, but isn’t limited to Prescription Drugs, Air Quality (distance to power plants), drinking water, eating genetically modified foods, and of course using legal substances such as Alcohol, Tobacco, and Caffeine. It should also be noted that many doctors still routinely prescribe Oxycontin, and Hydrocodone during pregnancies and these are Schedule one Narcotics! The amount of data connecting withdrawl symptoms to Hydrocodone, Vicodin, and Oxycotin are numerous, however to my knowledge there still isn’t any hard evidence linking these substances to any detrimental effects. This leads us to another important factor considering the use of substances during pregnancy. There isn’t a lot of studies done on pregnant women because the results have the potential of being so terrible that no drug company in their right mind would ever carry them out. A pharmaceutical company that makes billions of dollars off of a drug isn’t going to risk potentially impacting their bottom line (which is to make money, not to help people) by doing such tests on pregnant women.
Now that we’ve covered some of the potential scientific proven effects on what marijuana and pregnancy have let’s take a look at the worst effect that marijuana can have on a pregnancy. These don’t have anything to do with children being hyperactive (a common myth perpetuated by marijuana prohibitionists) and everything to do with the fact that marijuana is illegal. While it is currently legal to take Hydrocodone and Vicodin during pregnancy (both schedule 1 narcotics similar to Heroin) there can be dire circumstances for a mother that uses marijuana to treat morning sickness or increase appetite. These have everything to do with the fact that marijuana has been villified for the past hundred years in the United States. In many states a babies first drug test will come when it is literally hours old. It doesn’t take long for the government to start prying into the lives of newborns, however it is probably for the best because it should be considered a form of child abuse to use substances such as Alcohol, and Cocaine during pregnancy. The amount of data tying the use to these two substances to birth defects is insurmountable and if a child is going through withdraw symptoms then the health care providers do have an obligation to take the necessary steps to ensure the child receives proper care. However, even though there are no conclusive tests which show that marijuana has any detrimental effects on a child, it should be noted that Child Protective Services have removed children from their parents simply because they used marijuana. This is a practice completely unique to the United States and doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world. The moral of this story is that the biggest side effect of smoking marijuana during pregnancy doesn’t have anything to do with testable, replicable, results, and everything to do with the insanity of its prohibition. The most detrimental effect your child could suffer would come at the hands of the state who could do untold psychological damage by removing an infant and placing it into foster care. Because of this if you are in a conservative state I would be very careful about any marijuana use during pregnancy. They can literally take your baby away from you and place it into the foster care system just because you tested positive for marijuana. This RARELY happens but I’m trying to put out the most honest information that I can, and in doing so I must acknowledge this fact. Sadly, marijuana probably won’t effect a fetus or newborn in any way, but the Government enforcing their prohibition can have obvious detrimental effects. Be careful.
If you are looking for further material concerning giving your child the best chance I would suggest looking into various pregnancy diets available online, as well as abstaining from as many toxins as possible. If you are a constant smoker who is stoned all the time this may greatly change the effects that a child has as it is may be substance that the baby becomes accustomed to. If you are smoking occasionally to treat morning sickness, or increase hunger then I would say the potential side effects of drinking a cup of coffee are probably much worse than smoking a joint. But in no way would I (nor could I Imagine the medical community) ever suggest that smoking all the time will be “good” for the child. Any substance that is taken on a habitual basis can effect a child. However the effects of marijuana and pregnancy are often grossly exaggerated.
If you are pregnant it is very important that you give that kid the best chance it has while it is developing. This means eating a healthy diet, avoiding stress, getting enough rest, and avoiding any type of toxins. While the studies don’t necessarily prove that marijuana has some sort of overwhelming detrimental effect on a developing fetus it must also be remembered that because marijuana is illegal this has also prevented a lot of testing on the drug as a medicine. So, having results being “inconclusive” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s completely safe. Those of us in the Marijuana Legalization community have an obligation to try and put out the most accurate information available, and we can’t just act like eveything is fine and dandy until science says otherwise. I believe in Science, and I believe that as marijuana becomes legal we will know a lot more about any side effects that may occur in instances such as these. It’s fine to put whatever you want into your body, but pregnant women do have an obligation to protect that child until it is born. I know it’s unfair, and it sucks, but the best thing would probably to make sure that you are taking care of yourself in the best way possible. If you have terrible morning sickness, and aren’t eating then perhaps smoking some weed, relaxing, and eating a ton of food may actually be more beneficial than anything. The thing is, I can’t say this as fact because the studies simply aren’t there.
