Pregnant Women Don ’t Perceive Regular Cannabis Use to Be of Great Risk, Survey Suggests

Despite evidence to the contrary, nearly 3 of 4 pregnant women in the United States do not characterize regular cannabis use as a great risk, according to areport in theAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine. These findings were based on survey responses of more than 15,000 pregnant women aged 12 to 44.While the data are still emerging, “several studies suggest that marijuana use during pregnancy could be linked to problems with attention, memory, problem-solving skills, and behavior in their children later in life,” according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention.Omayma Alshaarawy, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., and Alyssa Vanderziel, M.S., of Michigan State University analyzed data collected between 2002 and 2019 from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that asks participants about tobacco, alcohol, and drug use; mental health; and other health-related issues. The data are extrapolated to the U.S population. The analysis included the responses of 15,109 pregnant women to questions about their cannabis consumption and perception of risk of regular cannabis use.The authors defined cannabis consumption as the use of cannabis at least once in the past 30 days. To assess perceptions of risk of cannabis use, the participants were asked “How much do people risk harming themselves physically and in other ways when they smoke marijuana once or twice a week?”The prevalence of prena...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: American Journal of Preventive Medicine cannabis use Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Survey on Drug Use and Health pregnancy risk Source Type: research