Research Studies Then & Now
You’ve probably heard about marijuana being used in limited quantities during pregnancy without it being harmful to the baby itself. There is a strong study out there that suggests just that. After all, it sounds reasonable. The first couple of weeks are usually accompanied with nausea and stress, and it’s only logical to soothe your condition with an organic product instead of a pharmaceutical drug. It makes even more sense after you check out all the pro-arguments that go in your favor, one of them being the study mentioned above.
Recently, researchers announced that marijuana could no longer be consumed as a harmless drug, especially during the first couple of weeks of pregnancy, when the embryo’s brain is in early stages of development. There is a strong possibility that the psychoactive chemicals present in high potent weed available today can have a negative effective on the development of the embryos brain. Keyword being may, but still, if there is even the slightest chance of the baby being affected buy it – nobody at their right mind should be smoking it during pregnancy.
Marijuana Became Too Potent
Back when cannabis was acceptable to smoke by pregnant women (somewhere around the time Dr. Melanie Dreher made her epochal marijuana research), weed wasn’t that potent. You didn’t have Super Lemon Haze available on the shelves with its 23% of THC, there was no newbie vs. experienced strains. Most strains had up to 10% of THC and that was fine. However, with bioengineering came hardcore strains and that’s what researchers claim might present a problem to pregnant women around the world.
Furthermore, as a byproduct of cannabis enhancement, synthetic cannabis called Spice was born. This is a product that doesn’t contain any THC but merely mimics the effects of marijuana by inducing light-headedness and somewhat replicates the high that you get from smoking low potent marijuana. It contains no medical benefits and it can have negative effects if consumed in higher doses (those effects being nausea and vomiting). Still, as with high potent marijuana, Spice can have the same negative effects on the embryo’s brain in those early stages of development when the mother may not even be aware of her pregnancy. Do not take Spice during pregnancy!
Studies Became Outdated
The thing is, most studies that suggested cannabis is safe to consume during pregnancy came out between 1960-s and 1997. From 1997 onwards, highly potent cannabis strains emerged and the number of studies that dealt with the effects cannabis can have on pregnant women and embryos rapidly decreased. That is why its difficult to find a reliable number of studies that speak in favor of not doing weed while you’re pregnant.
Real Difficulties That Need To Be Further Researched
In addition to that, a couple of recent studies also show that children whose mothers consumed high potent cannabis during pregnancy may develop anencephaly, attention deficit disorder, neurobehavioral difficulties, depression, stress, etc. Some of it sounds a bit far fetched (such as depression and stress, which can both be symptoms that don’t necessarily need to be directly associated with cannabis use) but others present a serious health risk.
Do you think women should smoke, vaporize or consume marijuana during pregnancy?
Courtesy of the fine folks at the Medical Marijuana Blog
