Pubdate: Wed, 04 Feb 2015
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2015 Associated Press
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Author: Kristen Wyatt, Associated Press

COLORADO DEBATES SAFETY OF POT USE IN PREGNANCY

DENVER (AP) - A Colorado proposal to require warning signs aimed at 
pregnant or nursing women at pot shops was rejected Tuesday, but the 
suggestion renewed debate about how to approach maternal marijuana use.

The bill would have required dispensaries to post signs warning about 
"dangers to fetuses caused by smoking or ingesting marijuana while pregnant."

Pot shoppers in Colorado and Washington already receive warnings that 
the drug shouldn't be used by pregnant and nursing women. The new 
proposal would have added signs and banned employees from 
recommending medical marijuana to a pregnant woman.

Republican Rep. Jack Tate said he sponsored the bill after hearing of 
pregnant women using marijuana to treat nausea and vomiting.

"It is very, very important for women to be informed consumers when 
making health care decisions," Tate said.

But he agreed to scrap the effort Tuesday and try again after his 
proposal revived an ongoing debate about maternal marijuana use.

Sadie Lane, chapter leader for Colorado Foothills Moms for Marijuana, 
testified that she used pot while pregnant and that women need to 
talk to doctors, not pot-shop operators, about using the drug while pregnant.

"Show them both sides and let them make the decision with their 
doctor," Lane said.

A report issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and 
Environment this week notes that marijuana's psychoactive ingredient, 
THC, is passed to children through the placenta and breast milk. But 
the doctors who compiled the survey of existing research also noted 
that the health consequences of that THC exposure aren't fully 
understood. The report's authors found:

)) "Mixed" evidence for pot's link to birth defects.

)) "Insufficient" evidence that marijuana use during pregnancy makes 
offspring more likely to use pot themselves as adolescents.

)) "Moderate" evidence that use of marijuana during pregnancy is 
associated with attention problems, cognitive impairment or low IQ in 
offspring.

Still, the doctors concluded, "There is no known safe amount of 
marijuana use during pregnancy."

Tate said he'll try again to require additional pregnancy warnings, a 
concept backed by the Colorado Medical Society.
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