Marijuana use during pregnancy

Fried PA, Watkinson B, Willan A. Marijuana use during pregnancy and decreased length of gestation. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1984 150(l) 23-7. 

Women who smoke marijuana during pregnancy may have low birth-weight babies who are at risk for developmental difficulties and are more susceptible to disease. Like other drugs, THC also crosses the placental barrier and affects the embryo as it grows some studies indicate that this may increase a baby s risk of developing leukemia. THC also passes into breast milk, where research has shown that it can affect a child s motor development. Toddlers whose parents smoke marijuana have been found to be angrier and to have more behavioral problems than children whose parents do not use marijuana. 

Miller JM Jr, Goodridge C (2000) Antenatal marijuana use is unrelated to sexually transmitted infections during pregnancy. Infect Dis Obstet Gynecol 8 155-157... 

In view of the cardiovascular effects of marijuana, including tachycardia and a tendency to orthostatic hypotension, the use of cannabis by patients with cardiovascular disease is most certainly inadvisable. The older the individual, the greater the risk of unpleasant effects, including toxic psychoses. It would also seem better to avoid the use of marijuana in respiratory disease, in which it is likely to have some of the deleterious effects of tobacco smoking (SED VIII, p. 53). Finally, since cannabis passes the placental barrier, and in view of the many unanswered questions as to its basic effects, it would seem very unwise to take the material during pregnancy. The separate data on this topic have been reviewed very recently by Nis-himura and Tanimura (21 ). 

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