Using marijuana during pregnancy may heighten risk for baby

Infants born to mothers who used marijuana during pregnancy were twice as likely to be underweight and nearly twice as likely to be premature than infants who were not exposed to cannabis, a new study found. Cannabis-exposed infants were 2.5 times as likely to be admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit, compared with unexposed babies, according to the study. “We know that THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the main psychoactive constituent in cannabis, can cross the placenta from mother to fetus and bind to receptors in the fetal brain,” said first author Maryam Sorkhou, a postdoctoral student at the University of Toronto, in a statement.