# Cannabis & Pregnancy **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannabis-pregnancy/687383 "2014-04-30T19:16:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannabis-pregnancy/687383/1 "2014-04-30T19:16:11Z")
What’s the Conventional Wisdom™ on cannabis use during pregnancy? Obviously ingesting burning plant matter into the mother’s lungs can’t be good for the baby, but there are other ways to get baked. Is there any research into the effects of cannabis on fetuses? (Feti?) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannabis-pregnancy/687383/2 "2014-04-30T21:22:07Z")
Common sense says that anything the mom takes in is gonna hit the baby. IMNSHO, it wouldn’t be a good thing for her to get wasted in any way at all. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannabis-pregnancy/687383/3 "2014-04-30T21:35:00Z")
[Random on-topic google finding](http://www.infantrisk.com/content/effects-marijuana-fetus-and-breastfeeding-infants). > [@Texas Tech Health Science Center article](#): > > Effects of cannabis during pregnancy: > > Recent longitudinal studies suggest an increased risk of motor, social and cognitive disturbances in offspring who were exposed to cannabis prenatally. > > One study indicated a increased incidence of reduced head circumference in young adolescents (9-12years 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 planing, integration and judgment skills. > > In a study of 42 postmortem fetal brain samples from pregnant women at mid gestation (18-22 weeks of gestational age) who voluntarily underwent saline induced abortion, a decrease in dopamine receptor (D2) mRNA expression in amygdala with significant prevalence in male fetuses. Extensive marijuana exposure in utero was associated with the lowest reported mRNA levels. Unfortunately, this study did not indicate whether this change is transient or permanent. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannabis-pregnancy/687383/4 "2014-05-01T00:34:47Z")
I can’t imagine any way it could possibly be good for a developing fetus. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannabis-pregnancy/687383/5 "2014-05-01T02:03:24Z")
Need answer fast? (Well someone had to say it!) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannabis-pregnancy/687383/6 "2014-05-01T02:18:25Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Common sense says that anything the mom takes in is gonna hit the baby. IMNSHO, it wouldn’t be a good thing for her to get wasted in any way at all. Plus: there definitely **is research** showing deleterious effects to brain growth in young people – one of the few hazards of cannabis that isn’t really controversial; exacerbating certain existing mental illnesses is another one. Consuming cannabis in any form while pregnant would be very unwise, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannabis-pregnancy/687383/7 "2014-05-01T02:33:00Z")
I dated a special education coordinator for several years. She regularly had students in her classes who were the product of mothers who smoked while pregnant. All of the students were best described as in a perpetual fog, greatly reduced cognitive skills, and no hope of ever coming out of it. In other words, drug-fucked kids who would never become contributing members of society. The most profound Downs Syndrome kids she “managed” were operating at a higher cognitive functional level. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannabis-pregnancy/687383/8 "2014-05-01T02:48:21Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > I dated a special education coordinator for several years. She regularly had students in her classes who were the product of mothers who smoked while pregnant. All of the students were best described as in a perpetual fog, greatly reduced cognitive skills, and no hope of ever coming out of it. In other words, drug-fucked kids who would never become contributing members of society. The most profound Downs Syndrome kids she “managed” were operating at a higher cognitive functional level. I’d need some more credible cites to buy into that. It smacks too much of the ‘lore’ of crack babies in the past, anecdotal testimony by educators about how deficient they were cognitively. Later it turned out to not be quite that big a problem. Not that I’m saying THC is safe in pregnancy; I’m pretty convinced it’s not a good idea. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to discover cognitive differences in kids exposed to pot in utero. I’m just not sure we’re seeing classes where “all of the students” are so obviously impaired. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannabis-pregnancy/687383/9 "2014-05-01T04:21:21Z")
I have close knowledge of two women who, about 15 years apart, went with cannabis during their pregnancies rather than continuing their anti-seizure drugs. One of them did so at the recommendation of her MD (well, the doc didn’t say to take MJ, just that she recommended not using dilantin–I think–during the pregnancy) and the other was under the “care” of a "naturopath’’ for the duration. Both babies were completely normal. One of them graduated from an International Baccalaureate program and went on to attend an Ivy League college and is now in her last year of residency as a GP. The other will graduate from HS this year and has lots of options for college. She’s been working as a lifeguard and is a pretty good kid (although her mother thinks she’s going to drive her college roommate crazy with her sloppiness). (I shouldn’t have put the naturopath’s stuff in quotes as everything was absolutely okay all the way.) I also know of a couple of women who didn’t use marijuana during the pregnancy except during the last few hours, and they reported positive effects, at least to them. I was of the generation whose mothers were allowed alcohol and nicotine while pregnant then zonked to the gills during labor & delivery, and we’re…well, we managed. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannabis-pregnancy/687383/10 "2014-05-01T21:04:35Z")
Hmmm… one of my family members was a regular smoker and would drink wine on social occasions, like with dinner when guests were visiting. This was back in the 60’s when nobody thought this was a problem. She had twins. One is an airline pilot, the other is a doctor specialist. Another also smoked, had 3 kids, one’s a brain surgeon, the other was a physics researcher, and the third had an MA in teaching special-ed children. I suspect the dangers of drinking occasionally (or smoking) are over-exaggerated. (My snarky observation is that the French would drink wine with meals regularly, and that country isn’t all retarded, is it?) I’m assuming the same applies to pot. If the mother is in a regular haze, or hits the bong every weekend for the whole weekend, then the children will have problems - same as problem drinkers or problem heroin users. Someone who indulges occasionally (say lightly, once a week or less) probably won’t have any side effects with their children. The trouble is, if you say “it’s OK”, then the worst offenders will be like people cheating on a diet. “It’s OK, so one more won’t hurt. Nor the next one…” ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannabis-pregnancy/687383/11 "2014-05-02T19:54:44Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I’d need some more credible cites to buy into that. It smacks too much of the ‘lore’ of crack babies in the past, anecdotal testimony by educators about how deficient they were cognitively. Later it turned out to not be quite that big a problem. Yeah, I’m skeptical too. It seems that the issue here is not so much drug exposure as being raised by a mother who thought that would be a good idea to do while pregnant! > [@md2000](#): > > I suspect the dangers of drinking occasionally (or smoking) are over-exaggerated. Last I checked, the standard wisdom was that no more than a glass of red wine can’t hurt too much, especially if the alternative is being stressed. The damage to a fetus would be worst in the late 1st/early 2nd trimester. Especially when the brain is developing. After that and the critical structures are built; before that and it’s mostly a clump of cells. > [@](#): > > The trouble is, if you say “it’s OK”, then the worst offenders will be like people cheating on a diet. “It’s OK, so one more won’t hurt. Nor the next one…” Yes, good analogy.