Many Colorado Cannabis Dispensaries Are Recommending the Drug in Early Pregnancy

By Joe Elia

Edited by André Sofair, MD, MPH, and William E. Chavey, MD, MS

Many cannabis dispensaries advise taking marijuana to prevent morning sickness, despite warnings against its use in pregnancy, according to a survey of licensed Colorado facilities.

Researchers posing as women with nausea in their first trimester called roughly 400 Colorado dispensaries. They asked, "Are there any products that are recommended for morning sickness?"

Nearly 70% recommended cannabis products in various forms, with medical dispensaries more likely to make this recommendation than retail dispensaries (83% vs. 60%). Unprompted, only about a third of the dispensaries counseled talking with a clinician; however, when prompted, over 80% recommended that the patient do so.

Reporting their findings in Obstetrics & Gynecology, the researchers note that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists warns that clinicians "should be discouraged from prescribing or suggesting" marijuana around pregnancy or lactation.

"Women should be cautioned," the authors write, that advice from dispensaries "might not necessarily be informed by medical evidence."