CANNABIS 'STUNTS BABY GROWTH'

Women who smoke cannabis during pregnancy may be stunting the growth of
their babies, research suggests. The effect of one smoking one cannabis
joint a week throughout pregnancy appears to be equivalent to the effect
produced by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.

A team of researchers from the UK and New Zealand found no evidence that
smoking cannabis when pregnant increases the risk of miscarriage.

But they did find that regular users were more likely to give birth to
small babies.

However, the effect was small. On average, the babies of women who used
cannabis at least once a week before and throughout pregnancy were 216g
lighter than those of non-users.

They were also significantly shorter, and had smaller heads.

Once the researchers had taken into account other factors, such as
cigarette smoking, they calculated that regular use of cannabis during
pregnancy reduced average birth weight by an average of 90g.

Advice

Writing in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaeocology, the
researchers say: "These findings suggest that it would be prudent to advise
pregnant women of the evidence that cannabis use may lead to reduced foetal
growth.

"More generally, pregnant women should be encouraged to avoid all forms of
substance use behaviour during pregnancy."

The reason why cannabis retards growth is still unclear. However, smoking
the drug mixed with tobacco releases a cocktail of toxic chemicals that are
thought likely to have a negative effect on the developing foetus.

The researchers studied more than 12,000 women expecting single babies.

Around one in 20 women who took part in the study admitted using cannabis
before pregnancy, and a slightly smaller proportion said they used it while
they were pregnant.

However, the researchers say that it is likely that this figure
underestimates the true figure.