{"id":15409,"date":"2023-05-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/icesontario.wpengine.com\/news-releases\/emergency-department-visits-and-hospitalizations-for-cannabis-use-during-pregnancy-almost-doubled-since-legalization-study-finds\/"},"modified":"2023-06-14T18:20:39","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T22:20:39","slug":"emergency-department-visits-and-hospitalizations-for-cannabis-use-during-pregnancy-almost-doubled-since-legalization-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"news_release","link":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/fr\/news-releases\/emergency-department-visits-and-hospitalizations-for-cannabis-use-during-pregnancy-almost-doubled-since-legalization-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Emergency department visits and hospitalizations for cannabis use during pregnancy almost doubled since legalization, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

In one of the largest studies of changes in cannabis use in pregnancy after legalization, researchers from ICES<\/strong>, The Ottawa Hospital, and Unity Health Toronto found that the number of pregnancies that required treatment for cannabis use in the emergency department (ED) or during a hospitalization in Ontario increased by 82% (from 11 to 20 per 100,000 pregnancies) following legalization.<\/p>\n

\nThe researchers also found that babies of people who visited the ED or were hospitalized for cannabis use during pregnancy had very high rates of severe adverse outcomes, such as low birth weight, preterm birth, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).<\/p>\n

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\n“While these events—capturing very harmful patterns of cannabis use—are fortunately rare, we are concerned that they may reflect much larger increases in overall cannabis use in pregnant people following legalization,” says lead author and ICES post-doctoral trainee Daniel Myran, who is also a family physician and fellow at the Bruyère Research Institute and The Ottawa Hospital.<\/p>\n

\nPublished in CMAJ<\/em>, the study included data for 980,398 pregnancies from 691,242 individuals between January 2015 and June 2021 in Ontario, Canada. Of the study population, 533 pregnant people had one or more pregnancies with an acute care visit (ED visit or hospitalization) for cannabis, with the majority of the events (72%) being ED visits. The most common reasons included harmful cannabis use (58%), cannabis dependence or withdrawal (22%) and cannabis poisoning (13%).<\/p>\n

\nThe researchers also found a significant link between treatment for severe morning sickness and treatment for cannabis use during pregnancy and noted that this relationship has grown even stronger since legalization.<\/p>\n

\n“Severe morning sickness—or what is called 'hyperemesis gravidarum'—was frequently seen among individuals who received an acute care visit for cannabis use in pregnancy,” says senior author Andrea Simpson<\/a>, adjunct scientist at ICES and an obstetrician and minimally invasive gynaecologic surgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital, a site of Unity Health Toronto. “Although we can’t say for sure whether they were presenting with vomiting as a result of cannabis use, or using cannabis to treat morning sickness, it does raise concern that more pregnant individuals perceive cannabis use in pregnancy to be less risky since legalization.”<\/p>\n

\nThe data showed that:<\/p>\n