Victoria, British Columbia: Women report obtaining subjective relief from cannabis for symptoms associated with morning sickness, according to survey data published in the current issue of the journal Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice.
Eighty-four female medical cannabis users responded to the anonymous survey. Of the 79 respondents who had experienced pregnancy, 36 (46 percent) said that they had used cannabis therapeutically to treat symptoms associated with morning sickness, including nausea, vomiting and a lack of appetite.
“In the context of pregnancy, cannabis was rated as ‘extremely effective’ or ‘effective’ by 92 percent of respondents who had used it as a therapy for nausea or vomiting (morning sickness),” authors concluded. “Our study suggests that cannabis therapy for severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy merits further investigation.”
Researchers did note that prior studies investigating prenatal exposure to cannabis have yielded mixed results. Most recently, 2006 review of maternal smoking, drinking, and cannabis use published in the journal Neuroscience and Behavioral Reviews reported that “heavy prenatal exposure to cannabis” may be associated with “subtle” negative neurobehavioral outcomes in offspring after three years of age.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, “Survey of medicinal cannabis use among childbearing women,” is available in the current issue of Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice or online at:
http://safeaccess.ca/research/cannabis_nausea2006.pdf