GEORGIA, United States, Thursday November 26, 2015 – The American Medical Association (AMA) has agreed to push for regulations requiring warnings of the potentially harmful effects of marijuana use during pregnancy and breast feeding.
If the most influential doctors’ group in the US has its way, that message would be written on medical and recreational marijuana products and posted wherever they are sold.
The decision was made earlier this month based on studies suggesting that marijuana use may be linked to low birth weight, premature birth and behaviour problems in young children.
Some studies have also linked marijuana use in pregnancy with childhood attention problems and lower scores on problem-solving measures.
THC, the main active ingredient in marijuana, has been found in the milk of women who use it while breastfeeding, moreover, and some data suggests the drug can affect the quality and quantity of breast milk, the AMA’s new policy states.
There are similar warnings for alcohol and tobacco, “so why not do the same thing with marijuana, since it is the most commonly used illicit drug during pregnancy,” said Dr Diana Ramos, a Los Angeles physician with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which proposed the warnings at an AMA policy-making meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.
The AMA voted to adopt the proposal, placing it on the AMA’s lobbying agenda.
More scientific evidence exists of harm from alcohol and tobacco than from marijuana, but marijuana has not been proved safe to use during pregnancy or breast-feeding.
Critics say evidence of harm is weak, but while advocates agree that more research is needed, they say erring on the side of caution makes sense.
Dr Judy Chang, an associate OB-GYN professor at the University of Pittsburgh who studies substance abuse in pregnancy, said that while some women use the drug during or after pregnancy to ease nausea, chronic pain or depression, there are alternatives without the potential risks.
In advice issued earlier this year against marijuana use during pregnancy, the American OB-GYN group cited data putting use of the drug during pregnancy at about 5 percent nationwide, but as high as 28 percent among some urban low-income women.
Getting the AMA on board “really gives power” to the proposal, Dr Ramos said, adding that the ultimate goal is a federal requirement for warning signs, but because marijuana use is illegal under federal law, the policy seeks local and state measures.
The use of medical marijuana is legal in 23 states as well as in Washington, DC.
Recreational use of the herb is also legal in Washington DC, as well as in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.
While several states require health warnings on cannabis product labels, Oregon “is the only state that currently requires a point of sale warning at dispensaries regarding cannabis use in pregnant or breast-feeding women,” according to information in the proposal adopted by the AMA.