Cannabis users face a 1.5 times higher risk of “unhealthy pregnancy outcomes” than women who abstain, according to University of Utah doctors and scientists.
The findings, published by the American Medical Association, showed that exposure during pregnancy to cannabis, including for medicinal use, is associated with “health complications” such as low birth weight.
Taking the drug is “not safe,” said Robert Silver, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the university. “If possible, you shouldn’t use cannabis during pregnancy,” he warned.
The research covered over 9,000 pregnancies and 8 medical centres across the US – an effort the team claimed “was larger and measured cannabis exposure more accurately” than previous attempts and which meant they could “distinguish the effects of cannabis itself from those caused by other correlated health conditions.”
The team said they used urine tests to determine levels of use, which they said was a step up from the reliance on self-reporting seen in other studies.
Medical cannabis use has doubled in the US over the past decade, while legalization has been expanded to 38 states, 3 territories and the District of Columbia, while Germany is preparing to follow countries like Canada in legalizing recreational consumption.
“There are many, many reasons people use cannabis,” Silver said, before advising that there could be “alternative therapies that can help mitigate the symptoms.”
