Marijuana, the flowering annual Cannabis sativa, is a diverse plant packed with phytochemicals with a number of potential medical benefits. While it’s true that smoking weed has been shown to ease nausea, when it comes to morning sickness, it actually does not recommend.
Cannabis remains illegal at the federal level and, at the state level, it has been suggested that it is subject to a confusing grouping of regulations. That means many of its supposed medical applications have not undergone the strong study required to determine efficacy, safety and dosage parameters.
For women considering smoking or using cannabis while pregnant, it’s important to know that the placenta allows its psychoactive component, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, to reach the developing fetus. Some research has put the amount at 10 percent of what the mother receives and this is a concentration that rises with repeated use. Other studies have suggested a link between marijuana use in pregnant women with low birth-weight babies and clouded neurological development.
On the other hand, CBD is one of more than 100 cannabinoids found in Cannabis sativa and, unlike THC, is not psychoactive. CBD has been identified as having analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-seizure, and anti-anxiety properties and has great therapeutic potential. We stated that, despite the explosion of CBD products now available, none were FDA-approved.
The first CBD medication that received FDA approval called Epidiolex, is a treatment for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, two rare and severe forms of epilepsy. Lennox-Gastaut begins between ages 3 and 5, and the latter begins in infancy. Epidiolex is the first FDA-approved use of CBD and the only treatment for the Dravet syndrome to get FDA approval.
Because cannabis remains a controlled substance, the Drug Enforcement Administration must also give regulatory approval for Epidiolex. Once the DEA schedules its use, the question of availability moves to the state level. Many small pharmacies and at least one national chain, Rite Aid, have already said that they will stock and sell the drug once it has approved and goes through all regulatory hurdles.
