That’s the first thing I said to myself when I heard about the $190,000 grant received by the University of Washington from the National Institute on Drug Abuse which will partially fund a study to explore the effects of marijuana on an unborn baby.
Between me and my husband, we have almost 50 years of legal experience in the dependency field of law involving child abuse and neglect in both California and Washington. We’ve handled thousands of cases, of which 80% involved the abuse of drugs, including marijuana, and alcohol, and their devastating effects on babies.
“The very few investigations that have studied prenatal cannabis exposure and infant brain development have all involved women who are polysubstance drug users. No one has looked at marijuana use exclusively,” lead researcher of the study, Dr. Natalia Kleinhans, said. “This study will also involve periodic drug testing during pregnancy to verify in real time that moms aren’t using other drugs, rather than relying on the mother’s self-report after the child is born.” That should be the first red flag.
UW researchers want to recruit 70 women to participate in the study. Half will serve as a control group that cannot consume cannabis. The other half will record their cannabis consumption.
According to information the NIDA already has, cannabis use during pregnancy has been associated with effects on fetal growth, including low birth weight and length. Do we really need to know more than that? We already know there are a myriad of problems resulting from low birth weight.
The Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute at the University of Washington already knows that THC is known to pass from the mother to the developing baby through the placenta which means that the baby is affected by any amount of marijuana taken by the pregnant woman placing the baby at a greater risk of complications. Again, do we really need to know more than that?
We already know that smoking and alcohol cause serious problems. Do we really need to find 35 incredibly clueless women to subject their babies to additional hazards? Are their obstetricians going to go along with this?
What caring mother would subject her unborn baby to chemicals which have already been determined to be a problem for the child’s development? Would they be willing to use Round-Up while gardening? Would they be willing to golf in a thunderstorm? What kind of woman would do such a thing? I’m guessing women who need money as I have no doubt there will be monetary compensation. Will these same women save that compensation for the baby’s medical needs after they’re born? I doubt it.
With absolutely no intention of being politically correct here, my next question is will the husbands (or, at the very least, the casual inseminators) have any say about that which their babies will be subjected?
The researchers already know people who use drugs are the least reliable “self-reporters” so they plan on drug-testing the women to insure they aren’t using any other drugs. Really? From my experience, people who use drugs know every trick in the book on how to manipulate drug testing.
The March of Dimes, founded in 1938, works for the health of mothers and their babies and believes “that every baby deserves the best possible start. Unfortunately, not all babies get one. We are changing that.” With the “help” of the NIDA, the University of Washington, and women intentionally willing to put their babies at risk, the work of The March of Dimes will get a whole lot harder.
The overwhelming evidence I’ve found about the use of marijuana concludes that it affects fetal brain development. Even the Cannabist would not conclusively say “there are no effects” but, instead, wants more “research.” But at what cost to the babies?
And once they establish the cause and effect, and I have absolutely no doubt they will, does anyone really think this will stop people from smoking marijuana while pregnant? Warnings have been on cigarette packs and alcohol for decades – and people, including pregnant women, continue to smoke and drink.
With all that we already know about marijuana and pregnancy, there’ll will be at least 35 women who’ll roll the dice with their unborn babies. There’s only one word I could use to describe this. Insanity.
We’ve got a massive problem already in this country with drug addiction; do we really need to subject the unborn to a life time of problems?
Shame on the NIDA; shame on the University of Washington; shame on the women who will participate in this craziness. And God help those little ones.
I don’t get it, but if you do, God bless you too.
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