The newly published research papers, backed by federal funding and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), provide important insights on the possible long-term impacts of maternal prenatal marijuana use. The papers, published in the JAMA Network Open, conclude that there doesn’t appear to be a link between cannabis use during early pregnancy and autism or developmental delays in children during early childhood.
In the study examining Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the researchers assessed data derived from 178,948 pregnancies of 146,296 distinctive individuals spanning from 2011 to 2019. Whereas, the study focused on early development gathered data from 119,976 pregnancies of 106,240 unique individuals ranging from early 2015 to late 2019. The children from these pregnancies were evaluated on a range of autism and developmental indexes.
Authors of the ASD study stated, “In this analysis, the use of cannabis during pregnancy did not demonstrate a link with childhood ASD post correction for potential intervening variables.” The early childhood development study confirmed these results, revealing no connection between cannabis use in early pregnancy and subsequent speech and language disorders, universal delay, or motor delay.
Despite these outcomes, both papers underline that these results don’t vindicate the safety of marijuana use during pregnancy, in particular, if its use is regular or heavy. The authors hypothesized a possible connection between more recurrent use and child autism, suggesting the need for more research.
The early development study reported a “slight reciprocal relationship between speech-language disorders when determining cannabis use based solely on urine toxicology results.” This was not observed in the self-reported usage data.
WARNING: Advocacy Against Prenatal Marijuana Use
The authors of both research papers recommended that pregnant individuals avoid using cannabis, aligning with advice from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Academy of Pediatrics. They encourage education about the known adverse effects of maternal cannabis use during pregnancy on fetal and newborn health, especially for those considering pregnancy.
Researchers from Kaiser Permanente Northern California led both studies with information collated through their healthcare system. The research teams believe their work to be the most extensive study of pregnancies with maternal prenatal cannabis use, primarily corroborating previous research on developmental outcomes following prenatal marijuana use.
The research teams referred to a 2023 study that hinted at a link with autism, contrary to their recent findings. They also acknowledged some past studies indicating a negative association.
The authors warned about the harmful legal consequences of maternal marijuana use in jurisdictions with stringent anti-drug rules often leading to the arrest and prosecution of pregnant individuals using cannabis or other drugs. To illustrate this, a document from Pregnancy Justice mentioned 210 criminal cases against people for actions related to pregnancy, pregnancy loss or birth in the year following the Dobbs court ruling. Nearly 97 percent of these cases had allegations related to substance use during pregnancy, with cannabis being the second most frequently mentioned drug. THC use was the only allegation in over a third of these cases.
The research teams stressed the importance of continuing investigations in this domain, improved education on the currently understood negative impacts of maternal cannabis use on fetal health, and increased societal assistance for individuals dealing with legal issues and resulting access barriers to addiction treatment.
