Marajuana VS Alcohol.. which is worse?

[Liz]

hmm.. I'd avoid both... dunno which would be worse! Would hate to think what a combination of both would do.

This is from the NIDA site:

Can marijuana use
during pregnancy harm the baby?

Research has shown that some babies born to women who used marijuana during their pregnancies display altered responses to visual stimuli, increased tremulousness, and a high-pitched cry, which may indicate problems with neurological development. During the preschool years, marijuana-exposed children have been observed to perform tasks involving sustained attention and memory more poorly than nonexposed children do. In the school years, these children are more likely to exhibit deficits in problem-solving skills, memory, and the ability to remain attentive.

And as for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome... that's scary stuff.. I've never really looked up what it was before... but on a quick search...eeek. They can have characteristic facial features and everything!

[Lulu]

HHmm, I would think the booze would be worse, but BG raises a really good point.

Which does she do more?

Or maybe ask her to google Fetal Alcohol Syndrome - if it scared the pants off Liz, it might do the same for Joy...

[diannescruffy]

I've witnessed first hand a baby being born with withdrawals from marjuanna. It just broke my heart, she never asked to come into the world this way.
In my opinion both are bad and both can harm the baby.
Maybe this lady should take a trip to her local hospital and visit Special Care Nursery, I hope there aren't any babies going through withdrawals but if there is I would think it would be enough for her to give up at least one of her uses.

Regards,
Dianne

[suse]

The other thing to consider is that alcohol directly crosses the blood barrier, but goes through the mother's system very quickly. The THC in marijuana, on the other hand, is processed differently - the effect of active THC may only last for hours (like alcohol), but residual THC is stored in the fat cells and takes several months to be fully processed, and it is unknown what the effect of this might be to the foetus. It is suggested that regular pot smokers cut back or quit several months before TTC if they want to ensure that there is no residual THC in their system, although it should be stressed that the effect of this on the foetus (if any) is unknown. It is also why smoking pot whilst breastfeeding is not recommended.

If she doesn't want to, or is unable to quit using pot, then there are some ways to make it potentially less impactful: obtaining bush grown organic pot rather than hydroponically grown (which is significantly higher in THC and may use any number of chemicals in its production, both for pesticides and to enhance the effect), eating pot (eg: in cakes or biscuits) rather than smoking, smoking joints rather than bongs, not using tobacco in the mix: all these things may reduce the potential harmfulness.