Is Cannabis Safe for Pregnancy and Breastfeeding?
Let’s look at the facts.
Dr. Melanie Dreher - Reefer Researcher
Back in the early 1970s, Dr. Melanie Dreher was selected to study a group of Jamaican children, from birth to age 5 years. And in her studies, she found that not only did Cannabis have no negative impact, but that the children of mothers who used it during their pregnancy actually excelled. That is not to say that the use of cannabis itself is responsible for this excel, there are many other things that factor into that. A child could have a healthier environment, for example. However, the takeaway is that cannabis has long been to blame for outcomes it has no factor in.
Now let’s look at the study. Dr. Dreher studied 24 children who were exposed to cannabis prenatally and 20 who were not. The profile of this study identifies the child’s strengths, adaptive responses, and possible vulnerabilities. The results showed that instead of negatively impacting the children of mothers who used it, they actually seemed to excel. Most North American studies, even to date, are showing cannabis to cause birth defects and developmental delays or problems. These studies have not and continue to not isolate marijuana use. Instead, they group cannabis with other, more destructive substances such as alcohol, tobacco, other prescription drugs, and even meth or heroin. Her work later evolved into the book Women and Cannabis: Medicine, Science and Sociology, which also included her field studies, which you can also find and download here:
To Smoke or Not to Smoke?
That’s really the question, isn’t it? While the legalities of the issue vary from state to state let us look at the medical side of things. Even in states where it is legal, and even recommended by some doctors, it is not typically recommended to smoke. Even in the Jamaican culture, while many Rastafarian women smoke more than their non-rasta counterparts, many women use a tincture, salves, and other forms of non-smoke remedies, particularly during their pregnancy.
In Jamaica, cannabis use is governed by customs, beliefs, and social rules. There is a culture that polices its own cannabis and considered its use spiritual.
Propaganda and the Prohibition of Ganja
Modern medicine has long demonized cannabis and created a negative stigma surrounding it using fear-mongering tactics and propaganda. We all remember the D.A.R.E. commercials where someone’s loved one looked like a deflated balloon on the couch.
“Sally used to be fun, but sally smoked pot. Now Sally just lays there.”
Well, here’s another fun Dr. Dreher study for you; she was particularly interested in whether or not cannabis actually caused amotivational syndrome. Her studies, in the beginning, were primarily on men working in the agricultural field. Her findings? Well, cannabis was actually used as a form of work stimulation and found no signs of amotivational syndrome manifested whatsoever. You can find more on this here:
http://cifas.us/doctor-melanie-dreher-reefer-researcher/
If that’s not enough, we can start getting into why Big Pharma is the reason cannabis isn’t studied more in the first place.
Big Pharma
Here we go, down the rabbit hole.
When w ever sick we typically go to our doctor for antibiotics. We put our health and wellness in the care of someone who is supposed to have our best interest at heart. After all, that is what they vow. Then your doctor sells to you, or your insurance, a specific prescription. Typically, there is a wide list of medications your doctor can choose from that will be effective in treating your symptoms and helping your body fight off infection. Your doctor doesn’t typically pick the prescription that is healthier or more effective, they typically choose the one that will pocket the most money. Your doctor is a salesman with a degree.
Why would a multibillion-dollar corporation want us to be able to grow our own medicine and be able to heal ourselves from our own backyards? Cannabis is not the only plant we have been prohibited to use that heals, there are MANY. Cannabis is the most versatile. It can be used to make food, clothes, concrete, fuel, and even plastic. If our government wanted a greener future, a healthier future for you, me, and our children. They WOULD be studying cannabis. But they won’t, because that gives us too much freedom. And in the good words of a good friend of mine, when our government acts in tyranny it is our job as a people to rise up and act in our best interests.
