Cannabis is widely regarded as one of the safest drugs on the market. With little to no side effects, cannabis has been used for pain relief, anti-inflammatory purposes and many more. One of the questions that continue to come up is whether or not the substance is safe for those who are pregnant. Due to all of the complications that come with pregnancy, marijuana seems like it would be a viable option to relieve some of the side effects. A new study has come out showing the large amount of potential that cannabis has to treat many different ailments.
A new study known as “pot-smoking on the rise among U.S. pregnant women” has helped to clarify some of the worries surrounding cannabis use for pregnant women. The concern with using cannabis during pregnancy comes from one of the major components of cannabis known as tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. THC has been shown to cross through the placental barrier and enter the fetal bloodstream. Because of this, many scientists and doctors have stated that the use of marijuana could affect the child while in-utero. One of the main issues as well with this testing is the fact that cannabis affects everyone in a different way. The main conclusion is that research is still being done and nothing is conclusive as to whether or not cannabis is harmful.
Doctors and nurses have notoriously been quiet about the subject due to the issue of legality on a national level. Many doctors have refused to do research and even converse with patients about using cannabis because of this. One user of marijuana while pregnant stated that “marijuana can definitely be a tool. But using marijuana while you’re pregnant is more than just smoking and doing what you did before you were pregnant.” The woman continued to state that “Some marijuana users are constantly smoking joints and blunts, and you know that’s not as clean as it would be in a water pipe, which is what I smoked out of. And, if tobacco’s involved, that’s a whole different ball game… and then there are many more things that you to be paying attention to, like: Have you eaten today? Did you drink water? How are you smoking? Who are you around while you smoke? Does it make you be around a bad crowd? Are you putting yourself in a dangerous situation to go and buy it?” The issues with this comes from the situations that can arise while using the substance, not just its use.
There is currently no long term research that has been done to show that there are negative effects when using cannabis but that should not dissuade nor persuade an individual to use it. There are many reasons why cannabis could be helpful to those who are pregnant, so researchers have continued to do studies upon the subject but because the industry is so relatively new, it is difficult to conduct these long term studies as mentioned prior. The woman continued to state that “When I first went to the OBGYN I was assigned to in my county, I did let them know that I was smoking marijuana because I was worried about the social services aspect. And they said really, they never really care or check for that. The doctor said, for the most part, they’re really checking for harder things that are obviously going to affect the child, the things [that have] a grand amount of evidence [to back it up],” she said. This shows the often quiet nature of doctors when put in this situation. The hopes continue to be high that studies will help to determine whether or not marijuana is safe for pregnant individuals to use to cure a variety of different symptoms.
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