More and more young women in the US are smoking weed to stave off troublesome pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness and heightened anxiety.
There was an almost 10% increase (19%) of pregnant women aged 18-24 ingesting marijuana (either through edibles or smoking) in 2016, compared to just 9.8% of women surveyed in 2009.
Although this particular study only looked at California - where medical marijuana use was legalized in 1996 - there was also a slight increase across the the United States as a whole. Pregnant women aged 18-44 who had used marijuana in the previous month grew from 2.4% in 2002 to 3.9% in 2014, according to results from a urine test taken at approximately eight weeks' gestation.
So, why are more women in the US rolling up to stave off pregnancy sickness? Well, it could be down to the fact that a recent study proved that smoking weed is a good ailment for nausea. The partial legalisation of the drug in the state also means there’s a more lax attitude to use it medically. However, experts are saying that there’s not enough evidence to suggest that it’s totally safe to use during pregnancy, as not enough research has gone into it (as it has for drinking alcohol or smoking tobacco, for example).
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has responded to the survey, saying that "women who are pregnant or contemplating pregnancy should be encouraged to discontinue marijuana use" and "to discontinue use of marijuana for medicinal purposes in favor of an alternative therapy."
So, if the morning sickness is becoming too much, it’s probably best to reach for some alternative therapies that don’t involve lighting up, until doctors can tell us otherwise.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.