Marijuana will join soft cheeses, tobacco and alcohol on the list of items pregnant women should avoid, if the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and some members of the Legislature get their way. However, some medical cannabis proponents and medical professionals say the benefits of medical marijuana in pregnancy could outweigh the risks in a few cases.Colorado House Bill 1298 would require that all dispensaries post warnings stating that marijuana is not safe for fetuses and breastfeeding babies. The bill has brought together some unlikely allies. State Rep. Jonathan Singer of Boulder County ó one of two senators who endorsed Amendment 64 ó co-sponsored the bill.The Southern Colorado Cannabis Council also supports HB 1298. ìWe support the bill because of the fear that is still out there,î said Jason Warf, executive director of the SCCC. ìNot so much because the science backs the risk of harm, but we realize that there is a section of the population that has not been educated on the benefits and risks of cannabis for medical use in pregnancy.îTHC and other cannabinoid chemicals are expressed in mothersí milk and will cross the placental barrier into the fetus’s bloodstream, said Dr. Margaret Geddy of Vibrant Health Clinic in Colorado Springs. ìThey’re small fatty molecules that cross the placenta, and they do appear in the child at birth,î Geddy said. ìThe answer has to be yes, it transfers to the child. Is it harmful to the child? We don’t have all the details on that.îThere may be a role for medical marijuana and cannabis derivatives for specific situations in pregnancies like severe nausea that doesn’t respond to other anti-nausea treatments, Warf said. ìEven before we were making our recommendations on the bill, we’ve seen doctors unofficially recommend cannabis among the people who have actively educated themselves,î Warf said.ìIt needs to be compared to the risk of the other medications,î Geddy said. ìIt may be the only thing that lets a woman be properly nourished. If nothing else is working, you have to balance that risk to the risk of malnourishment, which is, of course, very large.îPublic health officials at CDPHE say there is no documented safe amount of marijuana that can be consumed during pregnancy or breastfeeding. ìWe found moderate evidence that maternal use of marijuana during pregnancy is associated with negative effects on exposed offspring, including decreased academic ability, cognitive function and attention,î according to Monitoring Health Concerns Related to Marijuana in Colorado, published by CDPHE in 2014. ìImportantly, these effects may not appear until adolescence.îThere could be legal risks for an expectant mother who uses marijuana for severe nausea or other pregnancy complications. There have been cases of hospitals or obstetricians contacting law enforcement or child protective services agencies if the newborn baby tests positive for THC. ìWhat we’ve seen is CPS has backed off on that stance,î Warf said. ìWe haven’t seen as many cases, but we have seen cases of children being removed.îObstetricians are unlikely to go on record recommending cannabis options to their patients, even if prescription anti-nausea medicines have failed. ìRight now, the general policy is that most physicians do not want to even discuss it,î Gedde said. ìMost OBs will feel inhibited talking about it for several reasons. Their practice may have a policy based on federal funds. They also may fear they’ll lose their malpractice insurance.îCannabis proponents and public health officials do agree that recreational marijuana is a bad idea during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Vape pens, edibles and joints need to be set aside just like alcohol, tobacco and excessive caffeine intake. ìWhere there’s not that clear risk benefit balance, then women avoid many things like even some cold medications,î Gedde said. ìFor cannabis, we want to make it clear that there is risk, and it can’t be considered perfectly safe.î
