Seven out of 10 Colorado Dispensaries Recommended Cannabis to Pregnant Women
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]M[/dropcap]ost Colorado budtenders didn’t hesitate to recommend cannabis for morning sickness, according study was published on May 9 in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. Cannabis—despite being the most studied plant on Earth—has not been cleared as safe for consumption during pregnancy, and consumers should be aware of the unknown amount of potential risks.
Four hundred dispensaries in Colorado were randomly selected and a mystery caller asked for advice on consuming cannabis to ease nausea during pregnancy. While some budtenders correctly directed patients to a doctor, most fell short and recommended cannabis anyways.
“I was really surprised,” study author Dr. Torri Metz, a high-risk stated. “I did not expect dispensaries to be recommending cannabis products to pregnant women.”
Predictably, more medical dispensary budtenders recommended cannabis to pregnant women than recreational dispensary budtenders. Obviously budtenders should be directing questions of that nature to a licensed practitioner.
It is, unfortunately, a catch-22 situation. Most women wouldn’t ever feel comfortable discussing cannabis consumption with their doctor due to the legal risks. Cannabis could be the deciding factor for guardianship or custody of a baby.
In animal studies, researchers have noted that THC crosses the placenta, which opens up a can of worms of potential risks including stunted growth and slowed development.
Dr. Metz did admit that cannabis consumption during pregnancy currently falls in the gray area. “Marijuana in pregnancy is . . . not as black and white as something like alcohol,” she added. The damaging effects of alcohol and some drugs are better understood than cannabis.
The official stance from The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is that “women who are pregnant or contemplating pregnancy should be encouraged to discontinue marijuana use” and to seek out other routes when cannabis is used for medical reasons.
Some doctors recommend taking vitamin B6 or doxylamine for morning sickness or nausea instead of medical cannabis during pregnancy.
