Prenatal Cannabis Exposure Not Linked To Elevated Risk Of Autism And Oklahoma Court Rules Pregnant Moms Who Use It Are Not Breaking The Law

Maternal marijuana use is not related to an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children who were exposed in utero, according to newly published data in Autism Research earlier this month.

The research by experts associated with Emory University, John Hopkins and Harvard included 11,570 children aged 1–18. The study looked at the correlation between prenatal cannabis exposure and ASD and found no link.

"In a large sample and measuring ASD traits continuously, there was no evidence that prenatal cannabis exposure increases the risk for ASD," the researchers concluded. "Although no associations were found with ASD outcomes, prenatal cannabis exposure may still be associated with other facets of child development and behavior that were outside of the scope of this study, such as attention and cognition."

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Using Medical Cannabis During Pregnancy Is Not Child Neglect, Oklahoma Court Ruling Decides

The new Autism research findings are in line with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, which ruled this week that pregnant women who legally use medical marijuana should not be prosecuted for child neglect.

The ruling sets a new legal precedent in Oklahoma, where a growing number of women have already been charged with child neglect felonies for consuming cannabis while pregnant even when they hold a state-legal medical marijuana card. 

The ruling came almost four years after Amanda Aguilar, a single mother of five, was charged with felony child neglect in 2020 for testing positive for cannabis when her baby was born, reported The Frontier and The Marshall Project. She has been using medical cannabis to alleviate severe morning sickness.

"I might have actually laid down if this had been a fight over any other thing else," Aguilar said on Thursday following the court ruling. "But because it was over my kids, that was the reason I didn't give up." 

Presiding Judge Scott Rowland wrote in the court's majority opinion that while he does not condone Aguilar's decision to consume cannabis while pregnant, the plant is after all legal for medical use in Oklahoma.

"For us to find that Aguilar's marijuana use, fully authorized by her medical marijuana card, became illegal due to her pregnancy, would require us to rewrite the statutes in a way we simply do not think is appropriate for courts to do," Judge Rowland wrote.

The court nevertheless noted the state lawmakers should consider amending the law to allow for women who use cannabis during pregnancy to be criminally charged. 

Read Next:

• Dilemma Between Pregnant Women Who Need Medical Marijuana And Child Protective Services

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