PS452 Unit 10 Cannabis and Prenatal Exposure Paper Example

"It's Natural, So It's Safe for the Baby, Right?": A PS452 Unit 10 Cannabis and Prenatal Exposure Paper

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

PS452: Psychopharmacology of Alcohol and Drugs

Unit 10 Cannabis and Prenatal Exposure Paper

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The writer, the unit, the patient and every detail are composite and illustrative; the articles cited are real.

Marisela's Question

Marisela, twenty-seven, was eighteen weeks pregnant when she came to our Albuquerque withdrawal unit for help stopping alcohol, which she had been drinking heavily before she learned she was pregnant and had cut down but not stopped. She also smoked cannabis several times a day, which she said was the only thing that eased her morning sickness. New Mexico allows adult cannabis use, and a dispensary worker had told her it was natural. On her second day, she asked me directly, "It's safe for the baby, right?"

I told her I could not give medical advice and that the physician and her obstetrician would talk with her, and I made sure they knew she had asked. Then I looked at what the research says.

How Cannabis Acts

Ashton (2001) reviewed the pharmacology of cannabis. Its main psychoactive compound, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, acts mainly at CB1 cannabinoid receptors, which are among the most abundant receptors in the brain and are dense in regions involved in memory, coordination, reward and pain. These receptors normally respond to the body's own cannabinoids, which help regulate the release of other neurotransmitters. THC is a partial agonist at CB1 receptors, and its effects include relaxation, altered perception, increased appetite, impaired short-term memory and coordination, and, in some people, anxiety or paranoia.

THC is highly soluble in fat. After use, it moves quickly from the blood into fatty tissues, from which it is released slowly, so traces can remain in the body for days to weeks in regular users. THC also crosses the placenta, so a developing fetus is exposed to it.

Why the Fetal Brain Matters

The body's own cannabinoid system plays a role in brain development, helping guide how neurons grow, migrate and connect. That is one reason researchers are concerned about prenatal exposure: THC acting on CB1 receptors during development could alter processes that the body's own cannabinoids normally regulate.

Evidence From Infant Brains

Salzwedel et al. (2020) used functional brain imaging in newborns to study how prenatal exposure to drugs, including cannabis, related to the organization of the infant brain. They found that exposure was associated with differences in functional connectivity, the coordinated activity between brain regions, shortly after birth, with some patterns linked to particular substances, and that certain differences were related to infants' later behavioral development. Because the images were taken soon after birth, before much postnatal experience, the findings point toward effects of the prenatal environment.

The study has important limits. Mothers who used cannabis often used other substances too, and exposures were not randomly assigned, so the effects of cannabis cannot be fully separated from those of tobacco, alcohol, stress or other differences between families.

Evidence From Children

Paul et al. (2021) drew on the national Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study and compared children whose mothers reported using cannabis during pregnancy with those who were not exposed. Exposure, particularly after the mother knew she was pregnant, was associated with greater psychopathology in middle childhood, including more attention problems and psychotic-like experiences. The associations were small and remained after accounting for many other factors.

The evidence does not prove harm, but it gives no reason to call daily cannabis safe for a developing brain.

Because mothers chose whether to use cannabis, the study cannot show that cannabis caused the differences. But it adds to animal research and infant imaging pointing in the same direction.

Animal and Human Evidence

Many of the clearest mechanistic findings about prenatal cannabis come from animal studies, in which exposure can be controlled and brain changes measured directly. Those studies help explain how THC might affect development but may not predict effects in human children, whose exposure, dose and environment differ. The human studies above are consistent with concern, and none supports the idea that regular use during pregnancy is safe.

Today's Cannabis Is Not Ashton's Cannabis

Ashton's review was published in 2001, when the cannabis studied in most research contained far less THC than many products sold today. Marisela bought concentrated vape cartridges and edibles from a licensed dispensary, some labeled at many times the THC content of the plant material in older studies. Higher potency means higher doses reaching both mother and fetus, and research on older, weaker cannabis may understate the exposure in current use. This is one more reason to read reassuring older findings with caution.

When Cannabis Worsens Nausea

There was an irony in Marisela's situation. Heavy, long-term cannabis use can itself cause repeated bouts of severe nausea and vomiting, a condition known as cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which people often relieve with hot showers. Marisela mentioned long hot showers on her first morning. Her obstetrician considered whether some of her nausea might come from cannabis rather than pregnancy, which would mean that stopping could help her symptoms rather than worsen them.

Alcohol Remains the Larger Known Risk

Marisela's alcohol use carried an even clearer risk. Alcohol crosses the placenta and is a well-established cause of birth defects and lasting problems with learning and behavior, known together as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. No amount of alcohol is known to be safe in pregnancy. Her admission for alcohol withdrawal, managed with careful monitoring because withdrawal itself stresses the fetus, was the most important step she had taken. The cannabis question mattered, but the drinking mattered more.

What Happened

The physician and Marisela's obstetrician talked with her the next day. They explained that medical organizations advise against cannabis use during pregnancy, discussed the evidence and its uncertainty, and offered other treatments for her nausea. Marisela decided to stop using cannabis and to try the medications her obstetrician suggested. She said she was glad someone had explained the research rather than just telling her no. Before discharge, the nurse connected her with a prenatal program that supports women in recovery, where her care and her counseling would happen in the same building.

Conclusion

THC acts at CB1 receptors, lingers in fat and crosses the placenta, as Ashton's review explains, and the cannabinoid system helps guide fetal brain development. Salzwedel and colleagues found differences in infant brain connectivity after prenatal drug exposure, and Paul and colleagues found small associations with childhood psychopathology. Incomplete and observational as it is, the evidence points toward caution, and that shaped Marisela's decision.

References

Ashton, C. H. (2001). Pharmacology and effects of cannabis: A brief review. British Journal of Psychiatry, 178(2), 101-106. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.178.2.101

Paul, S. E., Hatoum, A. S., Fine, J. D., Johnson, E. C., Hansen, I., Karcher, N. R., Moreau, A. L., Bondy, E., Qu, Y., Carter, E. B., Rogers, C. E., Agrawal, A., Barch, D. M., & Bogdan, R. (2021). Associations between prenatal cannabis exposure and childhood outcomes: Results from the ABCD study. JAMA Psychiatry, 78(1), 64-76. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.2902

Salzwedel, A., Chen, G., Chen, Y., Grewen, K., & Gao, W. (2020). Functional dissection of prenatal drug effects on baby brain and behavioral development. Human Brain Mapping, 41(17), 4789-4803. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.25158