Women in the United States are increasingly using marijuana during pregnancy, a recent study finds. The numbers are still small, but the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) says this trend raises concerns because of evidence linking marijuana use in pregnant or breastfeeding women with low birth weights and interrupted brain development in children, among other problems.
A study found almost 10 percent of marijuana users in the U.S. have used it for medical reasons, and 20 percent of those medical marijuana users live in states where medical marijuana is not legal. According to an annual drug survey, 3.85 percent of pregnant women reported recently using marijuana, compared with 2.37 percent in 2002. Marijuana usage among non-pregnant women also increased between those years, from about 6 percent to 9 percent, according to a surveys at Columbia University Medical Center.
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