# Medical Consequences of Smoking Pot While Pregnant

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-consequences-of-smoking-pot-while-pregnant/466027>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 1, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-consequences-of-smoking-pot-while-pregnant/466027 "2008-10-01T17:43:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-consequences-of-smoking-pot-while-pregnant/466027/41 "2008-10-03T07:41:54Z")

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In the case of those few unfortunates who suffer from chronic, crippling nausea during pregnancy–“morning sickness” gone berserk–using marijuana to control the nausea and increase appetite is probably more effective and safer than many other drugs available to the medical community. The slight chance of low birth weight due to THC exposure is more than offset by the definite chance of low birth weight in a mother who can’t eat for most of her pregnancy. Serious long term vomiting during the first trimester could cause a miscarriage for that matter.

I’d say there’s a decent argument to be made for judicious medicinal use of marijuana during pregnancy.

I think it’s ludicrous the kind of flipout many people get over a pregnant woman taking a vaporizer rip who think nothing of that same woman commuting every day in heavy traffic breathing exhaust fumes. We encounter so many noxious substances in a day which have known teratogenic effects but we aren’t alerted on them so we don’t pay any attention to those hazards, but we gasp in horror if a pregnant woman drinks a beer or takes a hit off a joint–get a grip, people.

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**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-consequences-of-smoking-pot-while-pregnant/466027/42 "2008-10-03T13:25:02Z")

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> [@bufftabby](#):
>
> Out of curiosity, why did you give up pot during your pregnancy, then?

Because my husband, the baby’s father, asked me to before we decided to conceive. Since it wasn’t hard to quit, I indulged him for his peace of mind. I also buy farfalle pasta instead of penne for him, because he’s convinced they taste different. The man’s not very logical, but I love him! 😃

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