Detroit, MI: Prenatal exposure to marijuana is not associated with lower birth-size or cognitive deficits in newborns, according to findings published this month in Pediatrics. Researchers reported no adverse effects associated with prenatal pot exposure in infants assessed at 6.5, 12 and 13 months on a battery of neurobehavioral tests, including analyses of mental development, reaction time, complexity of play and information processing. Prenatal exposure to cannabis also failed to negatively impact birth size or gestational age, the study found. By comparison, researchers reported that prenatal exposure to alcohol (approximately seven drinks per week) was associated with poor cognitive performance, and prenatal exposure to cocaine was associated with smaller birth-size.
“By contrast to the effects of alcohol, our findings and those of other studies have consistently failed to indicate growth or neurobehavioral deficits in relation to prenatal marijuana use,” the authors concluded.
Previous studies regarding marijuana use and pregnancy have yielded similar results. Writing in the book Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence, NORML Foundation Chair Dr. John P. Morgan notes, “Studies of newborns, infants, and children show no consistent physical, developmental, or cognitive deficits related to prenatal marijuana exposure.”
He concludes, “While it is sensible to advise women to abstain from all drugs during pregnancy, the weight of current scientific evidence suggests that marijuana does not directly harm the human fetus.”
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of The NORML Foundation at (202) 483-8751. Abstracts of the Pediatrics report are available online at: http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/abstract/109/5/815.