THC Found in Breast Milk Six Days After Marijuana Use

Marijuana study raises concerns about THC in breast milk up to six days after use

A new study from researchers at the University of California, San Diego, finds THC is present in breast milk for up to six days after nursing mothers use marijuana. This is worrisome because THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, may harm the developing brain of newborns, potentially resulting in lifelong problems that otherwise would not occur.

The study involved 50 nursing mothers who were using pot and submitted breast milk samples to researchers. The researchers found that THC remained in breast milk for up to six days after marijuana use in 34 of 54 samples. Both THC and CBD were found in five samples.

The study also presents an overview of what is known about how marijuana affects unborn and newborn babies and why its findings are important.

“Given ethical concerns, there are no randomized controlled trials on the effect of marijuana use by pregnant and lactating women,” the researchers say. And the results of other kinds of studies must be viewed with caution given the presence of confounding factors. But enough about THC’s effect on the fetus and newborns is known from animal and epidemiological studies, they say, to counsel women against marijuana use during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

A new American Academy of Pediatrics report encourages women not to use marijuana while pregnant or breastfeeding. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists gives similar advice.

Read USA Today story here. Read Pediatrics article here.

Inside the weird and wild crusade for clean pot

The marijuana industry is a vast, toxic, and largely unregulated market – can a corporate exec and a drug dealer make it any safer?

Reporters will do anything for a story. This one found herself barreling down a California freeway at 80 mph in a driving rain with a drug dealer named Ziggy at the wheel snorting cocaine.

Ziggy, pictured above, and his partner, described as a corporate executive, started a marijuana distribution business after California legalized the drug in 2016. Their goal? To ensure the pot they distributed to dispensaries was free of contaminants.

It didn’t end well. Today, the two business partners speak to each other through their lawyers. But their story of how contaminated California pot is turns out to be as hair-raising as the drive the reporter risked her life to get.

Figuring out what the rules should be to prevent impurities from contaminating pot is nearly impossible. There are no national standards like there are for food crops. “And unfortunately, pretty much all of the marijuana in the United States is drenched in harmful chemicals,” she writes. “But let’s just say that if you like pot, you have absolutely exposed yourself to chemicals that can damage your central nervous system, mess with your hormones and give you cancer. There are toxicants in our vape pens, in our fancy prepackaged edibles and in the soil and water near many marijuana farms.”

This story will interest anyone concerned about contaminated pot.

Read Rolling Stone article here.

Marijuana growers stare down costly, burgeoning regulations

Meanwhile, marijuana growers complain about tougher regulations states are enacting to protect individuals and the environment.

• “Massachusetts put in place strict energy regulations earlier this year pertaining to cultivation lighting that growers ‘are figuring out how to comply with.’
• “In Colorado, cultivators now face mandatory pesticide testing.
• “In Oregon, growers must prove they have a legal source of water. Stricter water requirements are increasing in markets across the country.
• “In Boulder, Colorado, marijuana facilities must report energy use and offset their consumption by installing a renewable-energy facility, participating in a verified solar garden or paying into a city fund.”

It’s difficult to take such complaints seriously when pot czars are investing millions of dollars in a marijuana industry predicted to make billions.

Read MJBizDaily story here.

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