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. 2019 Dec:99:106082.
doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.106082. Epub 2019 Aug 7.

Cannabis use among women of reproductive age in the United States: 2002-2017

Omayma Alshaarawy  1 , James C Anthony  2
Affiliations

Cannabis use among women of reproductive age in the United States: 2002-2017

Omayma Alshaarawy et al. Addict Behav. 2019 Dec.

Abstract

Background: In this study of cannabis use in large nationally representative samples of United States (US) women aged 12-44 years, we evaluate variation by pregnancy month and by trimester. We also evaluate cannabis dependence, which might explain why some women continue using cannabis during pregnancy.

Methods: Large nationally representative samples drawn for the US National Surveys on Drug Use and Health included 12-44-year-old women asked about pregnancy month, cannabis use, and cannabis dependence (n = 381,199). For this research, we produced month-specific estimates across four-time intervals (2002-2005, 2006-2009, 2010-2013, 2014-2017).

Results: Overall from 2002 to 2017, estimates for non-pregnant women and for pregnant women in Trimester 1 indicate 7%-8% had used cannabis at least once in the 30 days prior to assessment. For pregnancy Month 1, the corresponding estimate is 11%, double Month 3 estimate of 5%. This degree of month-to-month variation is not seen for pregnant women in Trimesters 2 and 3, for whom estimates are 3% and 2%, respectively. Among women using cannabis during pregnancy, an estimated 19% have cannabis dependence, versus an expected value of 13% among non-pregnant women (p < .05).

Conclusion: Evidence of a possibly ameliorative pregnancy-associated reduction of cannabis use prevalence was seen by Month 3 during pregnancy. Cannabis dependence may help account for cannabis use early during pregnancy. Identification and outreach to reproductive age women with cannabis dependence might decrease prenatal cannabis exposure.

Keywords: Cannabis; Dependence; Marijuana; NSDUH; Pregnancy; Women.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations of interest: none

Conflict of Interest

Both authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Estimated prevalence of past 30-day cannabis use among women aged 12–44 years stratified by pregnancy status and by trimester of pregnancy. Data for the United States based on the R-DAS online analysis system of the National Surveys of Drug Use and Health, 2002–2017. Estimates in red are from pooled analysis of the 2002–2017 aggregate data.
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Estimated prevalence of past 30-day cannabis use among women aged 12–44 years stratified by month of pregnancy status. Data for the United States based on the R-DAS online analysis system of the National Surveys of Drug Use and Health, 2002–2017. Estimates in red are from pooled analysis of the 2002–2017 aggregate data.
Figure 3:
Figure 3:
Estimated prevalence of cannabis dependence among past 30-day cannabis-using women aged 12–44 years stratified by pregnancy status and by trimester of pregnancy. Data for the United States based on the R-DAS online analysis system of the National Surveys of Drug Use and Health, 2002–2017. All of these estimates are from pooled analysis of the 2002–2017 aggregate data.
Figure 4:
Figure 4:
Estimated prevalence of cannabis dependence among past 30-day cannabis-using pregnant women (12–44 years) stratified by the month of pregnancy. Data for the United States based on the R-DAS online analysis system of the National Surveys of Drug Use and Health, 2002–2017. All of these estimates are from pooled analysis of the 2002–2017 aggregate data.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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