Live data from Hacker News

Prenatal cannabis exposure associated with mental disorders in children

nih.gov

21–30 of 384 posts

Re: Prenatal cannabis exposure associated with mental disorders in children

#21

Weed is bad for you, what a shocker. Like all drugs you have to weigh the positive effects with the negative. Generally it's bad to do most rec drugs if pregnant or around kids.

Cannabis is a vasodilator, among many other things.

Re: Prenatal cannabis exposure associated with mental disorders in children

#23
post #18

I read this right after I got back from the marijuana store where a pregnant woman was buying weed. It made me uncomfortable. It just seems risky to me to take intoxicants while the babies brain is forming.

I think the real problem- and something I'm hoping more research can help with- is that marijuana is a medicine for a lot of people. It prevents seizures, reduces or stops migraines, and (this one is really important considering the context) reduces nausea. Sometimes people have to balance between a bunch of crappy options. This isn't always the case, of course, but it's hard to judge what someone is going through fr…

A lot of medications need to be discontinued during pregnancy.

All of the women I know who are bipolar absolutely do not want to become pregnant because they would need to stop taking all of their medication.

Re: Prenatal cannabis exposure associated with mental disorders in children

#24
post #4

Why are pregnant women smoking weed to begin with?

It's about 5% of pregnant women, while about 14% of women report smoking cannabis, and the rate is significantly higher under age 55:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/284135/percentage-americans-smo...

So probably about 20% of women who may become pregnant smoke marijuana, and 75% of them stop when pregnant, before adjusting for whether they are aware of the pregnancy. There are usually a few irresponsible individuals in any group.

Re: Prenatal cannabis exposure associated with mental disorders in children

#27

I’m glad this research is being done. I don’t use cannabis, but I also don’t frown upon it. However some of the conversations on the use of cannabis recently have changed from “it’s a drug, but it isn’t that bad” to “it is completely harmless”. Which in my opinion is very dangerous and could harm entire populations before we have enough research. In my opinion, it should be considered similar category as alcohol, cig…

Fat is an essential macronutrient.

Re: Prenatal cannabis exposure associated with mental disorders in children

#28
post #4

Why are pregnant women smoking weed to begin with?

I asked a then-pregnant still-weed-smoking coworker of my fiancée about this, she said "it isn't that bad for the baby, at least compared to alcohol or meth", and another coworker (female, roughly same age) agreed that "meth and booze are really bad for pregnant women, but weed not so much". from the sound of things (this was on a car trip to a nearby Native American reservation where the then-pregnant girl's parents lived), among this strata of people at least, if you get pregnant, you should definitely stop drinking and consuming meth, but weed isn't a big deal. no idea how this entered the public subconscious but there you have it.

Re: Prenatal cannabis exposure associated with mental disorders in children

#29
post #4

Why are pregnant women smoking weed to begin with?

Addiction, self-medication (eg. pain/nausea relief), escapism, peer pressure. To name a few.

I used to be sceptical about weed addiction, and then it happened to me. It was relatively difficult to quit even though the habit was severely impacting my work and social life. In the end not having any weed around helped a lot. If you have an easy endless supply, boy, you're in trouble.

If you enjoy weed, consider having a strict limit (eg. max 1 smoke per week). If you smoke every day, you might find yourself unable to quit when need arises (eg. pregnancy, yours or your partner's).

Post reply on HN