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Children exposed to cannabis in utero do not exhibit clinical neurodevelopmental deficits later in life, according to longitudinal data published in the journal Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology.
Columbia University researchers assessed neurodevelopment in a cohort of 2,868 children born between 1989 and 1992. Study participants were evaluated in late childhood and again in early adulthood.
After researchers adjusted for confounders, children exposed to cannabis in utero performed no differently on any of the assessments as compared to those who were unexposed.
The study’s authors concluded: “Children with PME [prenatal marijuana exposure] did not perform worse on neuropsychological assessments than unexposed children at ages 10 and [again at ages] 19 to 20. … Further research is warranted in a more contemporary birth cohort with a range of neuropsychological outcomes to further elucidate the effect of prenatal marijuana exposure on neurodevelopment.”
The study’s findings are consistent with several prior cohort studies evaluating the long-term health outcomes associated with in utero cannabis exposure. A 2017 review of those studies concluded, “The evidence base for maternal-infant health outcomes of cannabis use in pregnancy is more robust than for many other substances. … Although there is a theoretical potential for cannabis to interfere with neurodevelopment, human data drawn from four prospective cohorts have not identified any long-term or long-lasting meaningful differences between children exposed in utero to cannabis and those not.”
Full text of the study, “Neurodevelopmental outcomes in children after prenatal exposure,” appears in Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology. Additional information is available from the NORML Fact Sheet, ‘Maternal Marijuana Use and Childhood Outcomes.’
