Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Clinical Pediatrics
Publisher
Sage Publications
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
31306
Abstract
Rising Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentrations in modern cannabis invites investigation of the teratological implications of prenatal cannabis exposure. Data from Colorado Responds to Children with Special Needs (CRCSN), National Survey of Drug Use and Health, and Drug Enforcement Agency was analyzed. Seven, 40, and 2 defects were rising, flat, and falling, respectively, and 10/12 summary indices rose. Atrial septal defect, spina bifida, microcephalus, Down’s syndrome, ventricular septal defect, and patent ductus arteriosus rose, and along with central nervous system, cardiovascular, genitourinary, respiratory, chromosomal, and musculoskeletal defects rose 5 to 37 times faster than the birth rate (3.3%) to generate an excess of 11 753 (22%) major anomalies. Cannabis was the only drug whose use grew from 2000 to 2014 while pain relievers, cocaine, alcohol, and tobacco did not. The correlation of cannabis use with major defects in 2014 (2019 dataset) was R = .77, P = .0011. Multiple cannabinoids were linked with summary measures of congenital anomalies and were robust to multivariate adjustment.
DOI
10.1177/0009922819861281
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Reece, A. S., & Hulse, G. K. (2019). Cannabis teratology explains current patterns of Coloradan congenital defects: The contribution of increased cannabinoid exposure to rising teratological trends. Clinical Pediatrics, 58(10), 1085-1123.
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