Marijuana crosses the placenta

July 5, 8:42 PMPortland Drug Policy ExaminerJohn English

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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

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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