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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Up to one-third of pregnant women do not believe cannabis is harmful to their fetus, according to a new review by UBC [(The University of British Columbia)] researchers.
In some cases, women perceived a lack of communication from their health care providers about the risks of cannabis as an indication that the drug is safe to use during pregnancy.
The findings are outlined in a new review, published in the journal Preventive Medicine, in which UBC researchers sought to identify the latest evidence on women's perspectives on the health aspects of cannabis use during pregnancy and post-partum and whether their perceptions influence decision-making about using the drug.
"Our research suggests that, over the past decade, more women seem to be using cannabis during pregnancy than ever before, even though evidence of its safety is limited and conflicting," said lead author Hamideh Bayrampour, assistant professor in the UBC department of family practice and affiliate investigator at BC Children's Hospital Research Institute. "As many jurisdictions around the world, including Canada, legalize cannabis, it's becoming increasingly important for public health officials to understand perceptions of cannabis use and to increase awareness of the health concerns around its use, especially for pregnant women."
Journal Reference:
Hamideh Bayrampour, Mike Zahradnik, Sarka Lisonkova, Patti Janssen. Women's perspectives about cannabis use during pregnancy and the postpartum period: An integrative review. Preventive Medicine, 2019; 119: 17 DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2018.12.002
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(Score: 4, Insightful) by Immerman on Thursday January 24 2019, @06:40PM (5 children)
Agreed, the summary even says "evidence of its safety is limited and conflicting"
So, we have limited but conflicting evidence that marijuana smoking is safe, but dear lord, 1/3rd of women actually believe it?!? The Horror!
I imagine we could sit down an make a list of dozens of common food additives and environmental toxins that we *know* are unsafe for developing fetuses. But yes, lets get worked up about women using a recreational drug that we're not completely certain is completely safe.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by slinches on Thursday January 24 2019, @07:47PM (4 children)
I would say that taking any drug recreationally while pregnant is being irresponsible with the health of the unborn child and that's worth getting a little worked up over.
However, medicinal use of drugs is often necessary during pregnancy and choosing one where the "evidence of its safety is limited and conflicting" is not necessarily irresponsible when the alternative is one that has been proven to increase risk of miscarriage and birth defects, which is the case with some prescription morning sickness drugs.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday January 24 2019, @08:31PM (3 children)
>I would say that taking any drug recreationally while pregnant is being irresponsible with the health of the unborn child and that's worth getting a little worked up over.
So is eating processed food, or breathing the inescapable car exhaust, or not exercising enough - things we *know* are unhealthy for the fetus.
"Limited and conflicting" safety results suggest that any hazards are almost certainly minor, if they exist at all. So the risks probably fall far down the lists of things most everyone already knowingly (or ignorantly) subject their unborn children to. Should you avoid cannabis to be extra sure? Sure, if you like. But there's probably several dozen other things you should avoid that would do a lot more good.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by slinches on Thursday January 24 2019, @08:57PM (2 children)
Taking a drug recreationally implies that there's no medical reason to take it. It's exposing the child to potential harm for fun. That is irresponsible.
The other things you mentioned are either unavoidable or may not be available to some women all of the time. Responsibility is defined relative to the available options and the motivations for the choice, not the potential for harm directly.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday January 24 2019, @09:30PM (1 child)
Unavailable? Processed foods are entirely avoidable, and actually come at a significant cost over healthy food. The use of household cleaning supplies is completely voluntary. Need I go on?
I suspect your problem is with the word "drug". I assume you're equally adamant that expectant mothers avoid coffee right? And aspirin? After all, those are drugs with known dangerous consequences to the fetus, along with many others. How about bacon? That shit is loaded with not only drugs, but known toxic chemicals.
Now sure, you may want to err on the side of caution as cannabis has not yet been conclusively proven safe, but to pretend it's some great potential threat while ignoring the multitude of much greater known threats is disingenuous at best.
It's not possible to eliminate all risk, the best you can do is to avoid the worst ones and mitigate those you can't avoid. So, once you've eliminated what you can from the top 10 or 20 risk factors, and accepted the rest, stop worrying. There's nothing meaningful to be gained from eliminating a 0.1% risk factor after accepting one at 10%. Not unless you're eliminating such things by the hundreds - which nobody does.
(Score: 2) by slinches on Thursday January 24 2019, @10:13PM
I was focusing on cannabis use because that's the topic at hand, not because it's a drug or that I think it's the highest risk activity possible.
My problem is that you seem to be dismissing it as harmless enough to indulge in for fun. We don't know whether the risk really is low enough for that yet. Once we've established the risk level, then I will be exactly as okay with using cannabis as anything else at the same risk level. If it's similar in risk to a cup of coffee, go ahead and have an occasional cup/toke. If it's more similar to alcohol, I'd recommend avoiding it entirely. Until then, I'll err on the side of caution and say stay away unless there's a medical need for it and other proven low risk options are not effective.