Study shows legalisation has no adverse effects on neonatal health outcomes

A new study on the effects of legalising cannabis for adult or therapeutic use shows no adverse effects on neonatal health outcomes at the population level.

The neonatal study was published in the Journal of Health Economics and shows that legalising cannabis for adult use is not associated with adverse effects on neonatal health outcomes.

The team of researchers from Columbia University, University of North Carolina and Indiana University assessed the influence of statewide cannabis liberalisation policies on newborn health over 12 years starting in 2007.

They discovered that the proportion of maternal hospitalisations from cannabis use disorder increased by 23 percent in the first three years of legalisation with larger percentages in states where commercial sales were allowed. This was accompanied by a decrease of 7 percent in tobacco use disorder hospitalisations.

Legalised cannabis was not associated with any significant changes in newborn health according to the study. Medical cannabis laws had no statistically significant effect on maternal substance use disorder hospitalisations or on newborn health.

Neonatal health

The authors wrote: “There is no statistically significant effect of medical cannabis laws on the proportion of newborn hospitalisations with prenatal exposure to noxious substances, neonatal drug withdrawal syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, slow growth, respiratory conditions, feeding problems, congenital abnormalities, low gestational age, low birth weight, or very low birth weight. Likewise, recreational cannabis laws appear to have no effect on these outcomes.”

They concluded, “In absolute numbers, our findings implied modest or no adverse effects of cannabis liberalisation policies on the array of perinatal outcomes considered.” However, they cautioned, “Our null findings do not refute nor support an argument that prenatal exposure to cannabis has negative effects on newborn health outcomes, but rather that state cannabis liberalisation policies are not associated with net changes at the population-level that are statistically detectable or economically meaningful.”

Neonatal studies

Other studies assessing the potential effects of cannabis use during perinatal health are inconsistent. Some studies link cannabis use to lower birth weights but failed to adjust methods to account for contributing factors such as tobacco smoking.

A study conducted during the pandemic revealed that cannabis use among pregnant women has increased during lockdown.

Researchers from Kaiser Permanente analysed figures of pregnant women consuming cannabis in Northern California during the pandemic to the numbers from the previous year.

The study involved analysing urine toxicology tests of more than 95,000 women having their first prenatal visit in Northern California Kaiser Permanente. They collected the tests between January 2019 and December 2020 before comparing them to tests from 15 months prior to the start of the pandemic. The results showed a 25 percent increase in the rate of cannabis consumption. Prior to the pandemic, the rates of pregnant women using cannabis were at 6.75 percent. This rose to 8.14 percent during the lockdown.

Read more about this study here