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The amount of research over last decade has been huge, even outside of this. It used to be the only way companies could research cannabis was by getting really

by tedivm 4y ago

The amount of research over last decade has been huge, even outside of this. It used to be the only way companies could research cannabis was by getting really crappy samples from a government grow house, but with legalization the supply of research samples and the quality of researchers willing to work on it has grown considerably. This is a direct safety issue. I used to moderator one of the bigger cannabis subreddits and one of the bigger questions that always came up was whether it was safe to smoke while pregnant. The answer I always gave was that we just don't know, and so it should be avoided. The lack of research though meant that people couldn't make informed decisions, and the stereotype around cannabis being safe meant that people did not always err on the side of caution. Now there is something concrete we can point to.

VWWHFSfQ 4y ago
- jjulius 4y ago
  >... weed people... Your bias is showing.
- tedivm 4y ago
  If that's what you think my response says then you didn't read it at all. I literally said that I would tell people "we just don't know, and so it should be avoided". Not "we don't know". I said "We don't know, so avoid it". That's a very different statement than what you're quoting- literally the exact opposite of your "it's not safe" quote.
  - dTal 4y ago
    It does seem like a weak reply to me - it's too equivocal. "We don't know" implies that it's anybody's guess, and that it should be avoided only out of an abundance of caution. Some people will interpret that response as "there's no evidence it's bad, so it's probably fine." In fact there's plenty of evidence it's bad, both direct (the linked study is not the only one) and indirect (we know that smoking in pregnancy is bad, and that drugs affect the fetus, and that fetuses are sensitive). If you polled medical professionals, they would all say it's probably bad. The likelihood that it's perfectly fine is small.
  - sbaiddn 4y ago
    Inhaling any burnt organic matter is known to be bad for peoples health. Theres a mechanistic explanation for it too: smoking causes incomplete combustion of organic matter creating a soup of volatile organics and slew of carbon particulates, many with activated surfaces. CO, formaldehyde, CN, etc. even CO2 which is toxic at high concentrations (its not merely an asphyxiant like it is for a fire). Smoke is bad. Full stop. exposure to smoke, cigarettes, diesel fumes, interstate, etc while pregnant is harmful to the baby. This has been known for decades. So the answer should have been: "we don't know the effects specifically of pot on pregnancy, but we know smoking is bad while pregnant. So, while we don't know about pot-cookies, joints are bad."
    - tedivm 4y ago
      Pretty much everyone I know who uses cannabis vaporizes these days, so no burning involved. That said these sketchy vape cartridges are pretty scary at times and I'd love to see that regulated and tested like tobacco products are. Regardless of how it's ingested though I imagine that once it gets into the bloodstream it's getting into the fetus, and I'd absolutely want a bunch of high quality peer reviewed studies saying that it's safe before I'd be willing to indulge while pregnant (not that it's an option for me, testicles and all).
    - Dylan16807 4y ago
      > So the answer should have been: "we don't know the effects specifically of pot on pregnancy, but we know smoking is bad while pregnant. So, while we don't know about pot-cookies, joints are bad." No it should not have been. You removed all warning outside of smoking, and that's reckless.
      - sbaiddn 4y ago
        My point was to highlight that even the most pro-pot advocate cannot deny the harm of smoke. Of course marijuana is dumb during pregnancy - we don't even let women eat brie for the remote chance it might cause food poisoning
- flatiron 4y ago
  I think a lot of people think it’s “safe” is it’s been used for thousands of years and has relatively well tolerated. It’s nice to get more specific info like this though.
- Bud 4y ago
  Why are you intentionally misrepresenting the very clear comment you are responding to?
- ironick09 4y ago
  The only thing that’s irresponsible is your reading comprehension, re-read their comment.
- fennecfoxen 4y ago
  Just as a baseline, we know smoking cannabis is unsafe because it’s smoke going into your lungs. That’s never healthy. Any particulate inhalation is bad for your lungs.
  - kdmccormick 4y ago
    Thing is, so much cannabis consumption today is through vapor or edibles. I'm not saying it's safe to vape or eat cannabis when you're pregnant. But you if you say: > you shouldn't consume cannabis when pregnant because bringing particles in your lungs is bad then you open yourself up to the immediate response of: > OK, so I can do edibles when I'm pregnant then, right?
mc32 4y ago
I wonder if it has impact on sperm integrity and therefore men who are reproducing should abstain for some time prior to inseminating.
- cududa 4y ago
  It's odd this is getting so downvoted. A lot of projection perhaps? We don't know the answer and there's good research showing cannabinoids in sperm. Why's it so outrageous to suggest that until we know the answer, don't birth a kid with a weed tinted fertilizer?
  - hutzlibu 4y ago
    The answer above is neutral, yours is not "don't birth a kid with a weed tinted fertilizer". There are many things that hypothetically could be bad and we do not have the answer. Which is we normally go by the opposite approach: What data do we have that indicates, that high sperm is bad? As far as I know, none. (A pregnant mother smoking is a whole different story)
hammock 4y ago
>one of the bigger questions that always came up was whether it was safe to smoke while pregnant. The answer I always gave was that we just don't know, and so it should be avoided. The lack of research though meant that people couldn't make informed decisions, and the stereotype around cannabis being safe meant that people did not always err on the side of caution. My friend (a bit crazy) once told me he wondered the same thing when governments and pharmaceutical companies would say the Covid jab was safe for pregnant women. Or at least, that there was “no data” suggesting it is harmful. I guess it is safe though, we now know
- jupp0r 4y ago
  Pregnant women were included in the original safety studies (not by design, if you have 40k people some of them will become pregnant) and there were no safety signals. On the other hand we had pretty good information early on that being pregnant was a major risk factor in getting severe COVID.
  - bnjms 4y ago
    That only tells you the safety of the mother and the obvious negative outcomes for the baby. When people ask is it safe they usually mean long term.
    - jupp0r 4y ago
      Same goes for the disease. It’s not a great situation when both the vaccine and the disease are new. FWIW vaccine side effects that are detected a long time after administration are incredibly rare [1]. [1] https://www.unicef.org/montenegro/en/stories/vaccines-and-side-effects-no-long-term-harm-health https://www.unicef.org/montenegro/en/stories/vaccines-and-si...

by tedivm 4y ago

VWWHFSfQ 4y ago

jjulius 4y ago
>... weed people... Your bias is showing.
tedivm 4y ago
If that's what you think my response says then you didn't read it at all. I literally said that I would tell people "we just don't know, and so it should be avoided". Not "we don't know". I said "We don't know, so avoid it". That's a very different statement than what you're quoting- literally the exact opposite of your "it's not safe" quote.
- dTal 4y ago
  It does seem like a weak reply to me - it's too equivocal. "We don't know" implies that it's anybody's guess, and that it should be avoided only out of an abundance of caution. Some people will interpret that response as "there's no evidence it's bad, so it's probably fine." In fact there's plenty of evidence it's bad, both direct (the linked study is not the only one) and indirect (we know that smoking in pregnancy is bad, and that drugs affect the fetus, and that fetuses are sensitive). If you polled medical professionals, they would all say it's probably bad. The likelihood that it's perfectly fine is small.
- sbaiddn 4y ago
  Inhaling any burnt organic matter is known to be bad for peoples health. Theres a mechanistic explanation for it too: smoking causes incomplete combustion of organic matter creating a soup of volatile organics and slew of carbon particulates, many with activated surfaces. CO, formaldehyde, CN, etc. even CO2 which is toxic at high concentrations (its not merely an asphyxiant like it is for a fire). Smoke is bad. Full stop. exposure to smoke, cigarettes, diesel fumes, interstate, etc while pregnant is harmful to the baby. This has been known for decades. So the answer should have been: "we don't know the effects specifically of pot on pregnancy, but we know smoking is bad while pregnant. So, while we don't know about pot-cookies, joints are bad."
  - tedivm 4y ago
    Pretty much everyone I know who uses cannabis vaporizes these days, so no burning involved. That said these sketchy vape cartridges are pretty scary at times and I'd love to see that regulated and tested like tobacco products are. Regardless of how it's ingested though I imagine that once it gets into the bloodstream it's getting into the fetus, and I'd absolutely want a bunch of high quality peer reviewed studies saying that it's safe before I'd be willing to indulge while pregnant (not that it's an option for me, testicles and all).
  - Dylan16807 4y ago
    > So the answer should have been: "we don't know the effects specifically of pot on pregnancy, but we know smoking is bad while pregnant. So, while we don't know about pot-cookies, joints are bad." No it should not have been. You removed all warning outside of smoking, and that's reckless.
    - sbaiddn 4y ago
      My point was to highlight that even the most pro-pot advocate cannot deny the harm of smoke. Of course marijuana is dumb during pregnancy - we don't even let women eat brie for the remote chance it might cause food poisoning
flatiron 4y ago
I think a lot of people think it’s “safe” is it’s been used for thousands of years and has relatively well tolerated. It’s nice to get more specific info like this though.
Bud 4y ago
Why are you intentionally misrepresenting the very clear comment you are responding to?
ironick09 4y ago
The only thing that’s irresponsible is your reading comprehension, re-read their comment.
fennecfoxen 4y ago
Just as a baseline, we know smoking cannabis is unsafe because it’s smoke going into your lungs. That’s never healthy. Any particulate inhalation is bad for your lungs.
- kdmccormick 4y ago
  Thing is, so much cannabis consumption today is through vapor or edibles. I'm not saying it's safe to vape or eat cannabis when you're pregnant. But you if you say: > you shouldn't consume cannabis when pregnant because bringing particles in your lungs is bad then you open yourself up to the immediate response of: > OK, so I can do edibles when I'm pregnant then, right?

mc32 4y ago

I wonder if it has impact on sperm integrity and therefore men who are reproducing should abstain for some time prior to inseminating.

cududa 4y ago
It's odd this is getting so downvoted. A lot of projection perhaps? We don't know the answer and there's good research showing cannabinoids in sperm. Why's it so outrageous to suggest that until we know the answer, don't birth a kid with a weed tinted fertilizer?
- hutzlibu 4y ago
  The answer above is neutral, yours is not "don't birth a kid with a weed tinted fertilizer". There are many things that hypothetically could be bad and we do not have the answer. Which is we normally go by the opposite approach: What data do we have that indicates, that high sperm is bad? As far as I know, none. (A pregnant mother smoking is a whole different story)

hammock 4y ago

>one of the bigger questions that always came up was whether it was safe to smoke while pregnant. The answer I always gave was that we just don't know, and so it should be avoided. The lack of research though meant that people couldn't make informed decisions, and the stereotype around cannabis being safe meant that people did not always err on the side of caution. My friend (a bit crazy) once told me he wondered the same thing when governments and pharmaceutical companies would say the Covid jab was safe for pregnant women. Or at least, that there was “no data” suggesting it is harmful. I guess it is safe though, we now know

jupp0r 4y ago
Pregnant women were included in the original safety studies (not by design, if you have 40k people some of them will become pregnant) and there were no safety signals. On the other hand we had pretty good information early on that being pregnant was a major risk factor in getting severe COVID.
- bnjms 4y ago
  That only tells you the safety of the mother and the obvious negative outcomes for the baby. When people ask is it safe they usually mean long term.
  - jupp0r 4y ago
    Same goes for the disease. It’s not a great situation when both the vaccine and the disease are new. FWIW vaccine side effects that are detected a long time after administration are incredibly rare [1]. [1] https://www.unicef.org/montenegro/en/stories/vaccines-and-side-effects-no-long-term-harm-health https://www.unicef.org/montenegro/en/stories/vaccines-and-si...