Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug among women of reproductive age (Fried & Smith, 2001; Ebrahim & Gfroerer, 2003). D9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the major psychoactive substance of marijuana and hashish, readily crosses the placental barrier (Hutchings et al., 1989) and prenatal marijuana exposure has been shown to result in negative neurobehavioral consequences in the offspring (reviewed by Fried & Smith, 2001).
Accordingly, it has been shown that prenatal cannabinoid exposure transiently or permanently alters the function of GABAergic (Garcia-Gil et al., 1999; Berghuis et al., 2007), dopaminergic (Walters & Carr, 1986, 1988; Rodriguez de Fonseca et al., 1991; Bonnin et al., 1995, 1996), serotoninergic (Molina-Holgado et al., 1996) and opioidergic (Vela et al., 1998) neuronal systems.
Specifically, several aspects of executive function appear to be negatively associated with in-utero cannabis exposure. Clinical and empirical evidence indicates that executive functions are primarily subserved by the prefrontal region of the brain but may also involve other structures such as the hippocampus (Barch, 2005).
See the rest of the information in the study: European Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 28, pp. 1705–1718, 2008
MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE doi:10.1111/j.1460-9568.2008.06484.x
Tania Vitalis,1,2 Jeanne Laine´ ,3 Anne Simon,1 Alexandre Roland,1 Christophe Leterrier1,* and Zsolt Lenkei1
1CNRS-UMR 7637, Laboratoire de neurobiologie et diversite´ cellulaire, 10 rue Vauquelin, ESPCI, 75005 Paris, France
2INSERM U616, Hoˆ pital de la Pitie´-Salpe´ trie` re, Paris, France
3Laboratoire de Neurobiologie du Cervelet, Universite´ Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6, Faculte´ de Me´decine Pitie´ Salpe´ trie` re, Paris, France
== == ==
A commentary I found on the above article explained: Mothers who use cause the fetus to experience adverse effects.
Effects on the fetus, though scientifically difficult to evaluate, for a variety of reasons, the detection of metabolites in meconium establishes fetal drug exposure. The effects on the babies after birth is obvious.
- Shortened gestation period is probably at the root of the low birth weight and length.
- Minor physical abnormalities, occurs in a significant number but is contested by other studies
- Altered neuro-behavior which raised stress levels of both the babies and therefore parents
- Tremors, startles, poor habitation to visual stimuli, abnormal reflexes and symptoms similar to mild drug withdrawal.
Also relevant, associated with adolescent pregnancies are:
- Higher risk of maternal and early neonatal deaths
- Maternal anemia and infection
- Maternal mortality risk increased
- Increased incidence of post-partum hemorrhages
- Puerperal endometritis,
- Operative vaginal deliveries and caesarian section deliveries
Comments
Well well well John, for once, I agree with you on something: Pregnant women should not use drugs. I'll give you that. But alcohol causes just as many problems in pregnancy. You know what the difference is? We don't put responsible adults in jail for drinking alcohol just because a few REALLY stupid, irresponsible women drink while pregnant. We DO, however lock up responsible cannabis consumers JUST for being cannabis consumers. So, for once, you're right. Pregnant women shouldn't use drugs. That being said, it's STILL not a logical, rational, or even good excuse to lock up responsible, otherwise law-abiding adults (who AREN'T pregnant) in jail for their personal choice to consume cannabis rather than alcohol.
all of this is great info. but i'll have to ignore it...after all, it is coming from John...and i feel he is a douche...
This is your best article yet Mr. English.
SLASH: Exactly right. It's like the boy who cried wolf: You can only lie so many times before people quit listening to the BS that comes out of your mouth. See, John's actually trying to do something good with this article, but after all of the previous lies he's told, people really don't care about what he has to say. So, he's destroyed any chance he has to do some good, all because his previous articles are filled with lies, half truths, and propaganda. See John, there's the problem: WE CAN'T TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY. You, sir, are a lier. If you want people to take you seriously, then you really need to rethink your stance on a few things.
Correction: *liar*. See how easy it is to correct a typo, John.
Look on the Schaffer Library of Drug Policy website to find the study “Prenatal Marijuana Exposure and Neonatal Outcomes in Jamaica: An Ethnographic Study” by Melanie C. Dreher, PhD; Kevin Nugent, PhD; and Rebekah Hudgins, MA
Comparing the heavily-exposed and the non-exposed infants, the Brazelton clusters on day 30, showed that the offspring of heavy-marijuana using mothers had significantly higher scores on the Orientation cluster, on the Autonomic Stability cluster, and on Reflexes.
The heavily exposed neonates were more socially responsive and were more autonomically stable at 30 days. The quality of their alertness was higher; their motor and autonomic systems were more robust; they were less irritable; they were less likely to demonstrate any imbalance of tone; they needed less examiner facilitation to become organized; they had better self-regulation; and were judged to be more rewarding for caregivers than the neonates of non-using mothers at 1 month of age.
There's been quite a lot of research on this issue John. Take a look: tr.im/qU8s
tr.im/qU8P
tr.im/qU98
tr.im/qU9l
tr.im/qU9C
tr.im/qU9M
tr.im/qU9U
And drinking has no negative effects during a pregnancy?
hypocrisy. a difference of opinion is no reason to put someone in jail and ruin there life.
I've seen a 5 year old kid tell her mum off for injesting smoke (from a cigarette) while pregnant, so I really doubt this is some kind of revalation. Also, I can think of plenty of things pregnant women should not do including alcohol, tobacco, some perscription and over the counter drugs or even extreme sports for that matter, just to name a few.
But what's your point john, how does that support your philosophy for national socialism?
WHY? do you support prohibition, when after 70 years of prohibition the problem has only got far worse. Kids (and adults) can get cheaper, more potent drugs easier than ever and organized crime are doing as good as any other industry around.
And don't give me that right wing crap of "harsher laws". Do your research! The US once had manatory prision sentences for drug possession, they had to get rid of them cause it was going to destory the nation!
What good do you expect to come out of prohibition John! Or haven't you considered that.
shut up john
This prohibition has gone too far! Innocent people's lives have been ripped apart because of the ignorance fueling this battle of egos. If I see one more politician conceitedly chuckling at the topic of marijuana legalization/decriminilization I'm gonna scream. I've heard the question, "What kind of example do you think you are being to kids talking about marijuana like it's ok?" many times. I want someone to say, "In the face of overwhelming evidence that marijuana is a safer alternative to alcohol or tobacco, safer than many prescription drugs, and has countless medical uses you refuse to swallow your pride and accept fact. Demonstrating that it's alright to discount science and fact...as long as it benefits your opinion. So I ask you! What type of role model does that make you?"
I wonder if you truly do beleive the misinformation you spread John? You know marijuana is non-addictive, non-toxic, and MUCH safer than alcohol or tobacco and yet you continue your crusade; blind to the truth. Unwilling to even truly listen. Those FACTS alone should be enough to put this argument to rest but they aren't. Your blind war has had many innoncent victims John, and as such people are finally seeing through you.
People don't seem to understand that just because a drug CAN be used safely does not mean it will. 99 times out of 100, marijuana will cause serious problems. The extra 1 out of 100 users will end up being no better off than they would have been had they not touched the drug. The destruction caused by marijuana on pregnant women, children, teens, and criminal and/or troubled adults is more than enough to justify its criminality. I know I'm a doctor.
Kristin: Who is advocating locking up women who smoke pot? Who is saying that drinking alcohol while pregnant is a good idea? The point is that smoking pot while pregnant is bad for the fetus. To say that pot is non-toxic and non-addictive is just wrong. Pot advocates will go to any lengths to justify it as harmless! If one provides scientific evidence, they will dispute. They will call names, they will attack character, they will ridicule, they will lie, they will nitpick about spelling errors, and will call for facts even though they have none of their own.
So John has no credibility? So how are the knee jerk cliches of the comments on this column credible? It is like the pot calling the kettle black.
Pot is not harmless: it affects the brain, lungs, immune system reproductive organs, causes psychological problems, learning problems, can be addictive, can lead to other drugs, can cause accidents. Those are the facts supported by science.
Charles... just, wow. You seriously need to stop posting on here. You're the biggest fake anyone has ever seen; it's so compellingly obvious that you're NOT a doctor. You repeatedly state "I know I'm a doctor," and you can't even make it grammatically correct. Everyone here is sick of you and your unjustified arguments towards the criminality of Cannabis.
Get some research done. People are killed every single day because of alcohol abuse, and it's legal and regulated. Yet, somehow, nobody has ever died from Cannabis abuse, and harmless "offenders" are being arrested everyday for something that should be legal in the first place! SCREW YOU and your desperate, irrational attempts to convince people that you're right. You will NEVER be right. It's just sad you can't get that through that tiny, thick skull of yours.
So does both of your mother's and father's intelligence... Seems you got the shaft.
There is a simple sentence that should sum this up:
Marijuana is a safer alternative to alcohol and tobacco.
So why has this debate gone on for SO long? I'm not saying its "safe" I said "safer" and that should be enough said. Has it really turned into "it's wrong because I SAY SO!"? Even in the face of science?
Shame on you...
Lynn, you really shoot yourself in the foot by saying cannabis is toxic, cause it simply isn't. It's the only drug known to man that you can't over dose from and I don't need proof of that cause no credible person would deny it!
As for all these harms done by cannabis. Apart from lung damage from smoking it (which does not justify prohibition), what harms?
Don't know about you oldies, but anyone under 30 either smokes or has friends that smoke and are doing just fine. In this day and age it's as normal as cracking open a beer after a hard days work, except in this case you pull a bong.
The UK government have spent a lot of time trying to find a casual link between cannabis and psychosis and have just ended shooting them selfs in the foot too with the recent release of a study that included over 2% of the British public and found no casual link what so ever.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19560900
Like I said, WHAT HARMS!!?
John Spanish, who are you referring to?
Motivation is the key. Our side wants others to not have others go through what our loved ones have. Theirs? To get their drug of choice legalized / decriminalized. Kenyon points to a study but ignores another, listed on the same page; take a look: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2787581?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=3&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed
Please stop this madness John English. Your dislike for marijuana is your personal opinion which I strongly support you in voicing. However the facts are coming around sir. That was an outdated study you just sighted. As you said. "points to a study but ignores another, listed on the same page; take a look:" Well here you go...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15763748?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=2&log$=relatedreviews&logdbfrom=pubmed
That study is nothing but a pathetic attempt for people like you (right-wing hypocritical storytellers) to try and persuade activists & decriminalization/legalization pushers with lies, lies, and yes... lies. Nothing has proven that there is any link(s) between Cannabis use and mental disorders, such as schizophrenia. So why don't you do us all a favor here, John, and stop "shooting yourself in the foot" as kenyon420 put it, with this complete load of propaganda? Obviously you have a major issue detaching yourself from the scenarios you like to believe are true, when in reality, none of what you believe was ever true. You are nothing but a selfish imbecile with nothing better to do than rag on innocent Cannabis consumers for living their "free" lives, in a "free country." Apparently, you don't think it should be free; you must be a socialist? Communist? It doesn't matter. What matters is that you are simply: wrong.
Now I'm just rubbing it in... two on the same page John ;)
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18332661?log$=activity
John, you are an idiot. What makes you think being a locksmith for 27 years gives you any scientific background? Stick to locks and other simple things you can understand. Until then, stop shoveling bs.
Nicely put, Scientist. Simple and to the point :)
John,
What did your love ones go through?
Lynn: Do you actually READ anything I type? I clearly said pregnant women shouldn't use drugs of any kind. And I have NEVER said that marijuana is completely harmless. But when compared to our ALREADY LEGAL substances, it's way down there on the scale. My point is now, and always has been, that people do NOT belong in jail for their personal choice to use cannabis in their home responsibly. And YOU have yet to justify why cannabis consumers are better of in jail. So, pray tell, WHY does a responsible adult belong in jail for choosing to smoke a joint at the end of the day rather then drink a beer?
Lynn: And as far as, "Who is advocating locking up women who smoke pot?" Is this the first article from John that you have read? That's all he does is advocate locking people up for marijuana use, even going so far as to tell people to turn in neighbors for growing, DESPITE the fact that they may be growing legally under the state as medical marijuana users. Who does that help? No one. It doesn't do anything but waste the time of the police. So while they're going out to have a nice 2 hour long chat with a state legal medical marijuana grower, some house across town is being burglarized, some girl is being raped, some kid is getting beaten, etc., etc. This is the kind of thing that John advocates, so yeah, he has no credibility in my book.
Way back in the day I had two daughters and I smoked pot while I was pregnant with them and while I delivered and they are fine, they are grown, and they are leading healhty happy productive lives and one of them works for a major TV network. I had fine and easy deliveries and the girls never had any health problems and the oldest daughter was never sick and had to go to a doctor in her life so far and the other one maybe once in her life. Both of them are tall and strong and there is not a damn thing wrong with them nor any of the kids ( now 30 something adults almost) of all of the ladies that I went to school with who smoked pot while they were pregnant and during delivery.
John's a liar that's what his real problem is.This paper 'The Examiner' is a modern day 'Reefer Madness' led by John here who wrote this article.
This pathetic crank is just embarrassing himself.
John when will you give it up?
10% of our national debt has been spent on the war on drugs. Yet we are no closer to winning. Thats over 1 trillion dollars!
The only thing the war drugs has done is make the drug cartels richer and more powerful. More blood has been shed due to this war than any issues that could be caused by pregnant women smoking the green plant.
I don't condone smoking while pregnant but who am I to judge what one does with their body. You sir are an old grumpy man who needs to find a better cause to fight for.
I say you start fighting the coffee industry, more than 1,000 people die every year due to caffeine related deaths. Go fight the good fight against coffee
I wonder, John, when you're going to notice the statistics on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and start calling for a repeal of the 21st Amendment?
I often joke that we know marijuana is harmful to the reproductive system when we saw the Rastafarians die out and because we never see little hippie kids in tie-dye shirts anymore.
Dr. Melanie Dreher did a huge study of Jamaican mothers who used only ganja and no alcohol or tobacco and found their children to be just as normal as non-smoker's kids.
There are studies showing minor risks to the fetus from heavy, constant marijuana smoking. So note to pregnant moms: don't pull bong rips all day.
But for that matter, don't get drunk, don't take prescriptions, and don't drink too much coffee, either.
Pregnant mothers have used cannabis for 5,000 years to treat morning sickness and pain. If it were exceptionally harmful to fetuses, don't you think we'd notice by now?
1979 was the modern peak of pot usage. Do today's 30-year-olds seem
Hey Charlie, you're a doctor (lol) so you should know that pot is safer than alcohol any day. I don't see any bodies, people in the streets suffering from pot. The problem is people like you spewing out non facts. Do some research and quit using your "doc" status to spread lies. Pregnant women? Gimmie a break! What about the legal "drugs" Charlie?? How about Tylenol? Beer? Whiskey? You're not a doctor, you're just another misinformed person that hasn't done his homework. Go back to school with John English, you both need a refresher course.
It’s shameful that john has his head so far up his ass that he still prefers the black market availability of drugs to our youth rather then a regulated and taxed above ground industry that requires an adult ID for purchase. Supporting mass killings spawned by drug cartel turf wars created by prohibition and the corruption within law enforcement and politics is his preferred ilk. Personally I feel anyone that supports such a travesty to the human population should be prosecuted for accessory to murder. Yes that is what I think of your shameless bigotry Johnny boy.
Sickening!
John, you should seriously be ashamed of yourself for spreading such lies. I notice (going through all of the comments to your rambling's) that just about everyone is calling for you to back your stories with some proof, how about a fact or two? How about just answering some of those who ask you questions directly? You seriously need to stick to picking locks, as your 'stories' have destroyed your credability. You play on the hearts and souls of parents that have lost children because of other reasons, not marijuana. You try to convince them that you are some kind of shepard sent to spread the word of the 'evil weed', knowing all along these poor folks do not need to be lied to. Give it up John - You are a liar.
John,
sir, you really have no idea how wrong you are. You are a very ignorant person.
John,
You have no idea how ignorant you are.
I'd just like to point out that not all Examiners share John's view (in fact, to my knowledge, there's very few). If y'all need some examples, just head over to the Medical Marijuana Examiner.
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