Healthcare

Doctors Concerned About Moms Using Pot After Study Claims Its Active Ingredient Shows Up In Breast Milk

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Medical experts are calling attention to a new study that claims that marijuana’s active ingredient can show up in nursing mothers’ breast milk.

The small study of 50 marijuana-using mothers found THC, marijuana’s active ingredient, in small amounts in 63 percent of breast milk samples from pot-using mothers.

Researchers warn that marijuana use by mothers could have effects on babies’ development.

The story comes as an increasing number of U.S. moms are using pot “during pregnancy and afterward,” reported The Associated Press. The American Academy of Pediatrics also says that pregnant and nursing mothers should abstain from using pot because of a “lack of definitive research.”

Approximately five percent of women report using marijuana during pregnancy, reported the AP.

Thirty states plus Washington, D.C., have laws legalizing marijuana “in some form,” according to Governing.com. Some states, including California and Massachusetts, have given the okay to selling marijuana for recreational purposes.

And Oklahomans voted to legalize medical cannabis in June, allowing doctors to prescribe weed to any person over the age of 18, even though law enforcement in the state opposed the measure.

Gallup reported a record high number of Americans — 64 percent — supporting marijuana legalization in 2017.

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