Pregnancy

Here are just a few of the health effects you may want to know:

• Marijuana use directly affects the brain—specifically the parts of the brain responsible for memory, learning, and attention.
• The compounds in marijuana can affect the circulatory system and may increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
• Smoking marijuana can lead to a greater risk of bronchitis, cough, and phlegm production.
• Marijuana users are significantly more likely than nonusers to develop chronic mental disorders, including schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a type of mental illness where people might see or hear things that aren't really there (hallucinations).
• Eating foods or drinking beverages that contain marijuana have some different risks than smoking marijuana, including a greater risk of poisoning.
• About 1 in 10 marijuana users will become addicted. For people who begin using before the age of 18, that number rises to 1 in 6.
• Some research shows that using marijuana while you are pregnant[288 KB] can cause health problems in newborns—including low birth weight and developmental problems.
• Marijuana use can slow your reaction time and ability to make decisions when driving[271 KB].

For the researchers of the study, the results present a “a major public health concern” as a number of pregnant women would report taking marijuana to alleviate morning sickness or nausea – without knowing of the adverse side-effects.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890623816300715#    

Highlights

•

Marijuana increases the risk of spontaneous preterm birth independent of cigarette smoking status and socio-economic status.

•

Women who continue to use marijuana at 20 weeks’ gestation are five times more likely to deliver preterm than those who do not.

•

The rate of early SPTB is higher amongst women who continue to use marijuana at 20 weeks’ gestation.

 But at a bare minimum, these findings suggest we should be avoiding recreational cannabis use during pregnancy. 

• Prenatal exposure to marijuana has been shown to be predictive of psychotic symptoms in young adulthood.
• Monitoring the Future survey reported a five-year decline in the perceived harm of regularly smoking marijuana, from 52.4% of high school seniors to 36.1%
• Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug in the United States and it is estimated that it is used by 61% of all persons suffering from a substance use disorder related to drugs other than alcohol.
• The risk of developing addiction associated with cannabis use has been reported to increase to about 17% among those who start using marijuana in adolescence, and to 25-50% among those who smoke marijuana daily.
• Smoke from marijuana combustion has been shown to contain a number of carcinogens and cocarcinogens, as well as many of the toxins, irritants, and carcinogens as tobacco smoke. 
• Marijuana-infused edibles account for 45% of the legal marijuana marketplace.
• AMA Marijuana has a high potential for abuse. It has no scientifically proven, currently accepted medical use for preventing or treating any disease process in the United States.

Number Using Opioids and Marijuana on the Rise

Chart: Colorado among states with growing heroin, prescription drug abuse problem 

Consistent with the past, in 2014 still only 47 percent of operators involved in traffic deaths were tested for drug impairment.

"We found moderate evidence that maternal use of marijuana during pregnancy is associated with negative effects on exposed offspring, including decreased academic ability, cognitive function and attention. Importantly, these effects may not appear until adolescence.

#no2Pot

Therefore, disrupted temporal and/or spatial precision of cannabinoid receptor activation, especially due to in utero cannabis exposure, can destabilize finely tuned signalling networks resulting in altered brain circuit formation and sensitivity to secondary insults. 
 

 cannabis use during pregnancy can increase the risk for ill‐behaviors (Goldschmidt et al, 2004; Day et al, 2011
Data suggest that administration of THC during pregnancy can induce long‐term structural and functional modifications of the cortical circuitry.
Maternal cannabis use during pregnancy reduces SCG10 in human fetal cerebrum

Cannabis has enormous affinity for milk and produces a milk/plasma ratio of 8, although the levels in milk are generally considered subclinical. THC crosses the placenta readily, and there is increasing evidence that it may increase rates of growth retardation and adverse neurodevelopment following prenatal exposure.
 
One study indicated an increased incidence of reduced head circumference in young adolescents (9-12 years of age) who were exposed in utero to heavy marijuana use.  Prenatal exposure resulted in a higher rate of low birth weight infants and childhood leukemia. Recent studies have suggested a reduction in long and short-term memory retrieval and retention in children exposed to prenatal cannabis. These children were also weak in planning, integration, and judgment skills.
 
While the effect of cannabis on infants from breastfeeding mothers is limited, cannabis use in breastfeeding mothers should be strongly discouraged. Thus, in pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, this drug should no longer be viewed as safe.