Pregnant Canadian women are asked not to smoke pot
Residents of the country shock doctors by their indifferent attitude to their health.
Canadians often amaze doctors with their irresponsible attitude toward their health. They are usually unaware of the consequences of various bad habits. For example, the country is about to approve a new law that will put the warning "Beware, Causes Cancer!" on bottles of alcohol. As it turns out, most Canadians who love alcohol have no idea they could be exposed to malignant tumours.
This time, doctors are concerned about Canadian pregnant mothers who smoke marijuana. Its use is legal in Canada, but it is believed to be approached responsibly — self-assessment of one's health and possible consequences. Pregnant women are more and more likely to end up in the hospital because of pot use. In this state, this bad habit is not a way to relax, but Russian roulette. The use of marijuana during pregnancy can lead to miscarriages, premature births, fetal abnormalities, deterioration of the mother, the development of addiction in the unborn child. In addition, children of such mothers are often born with too low a body weight. Children are Canada's treasure and the hope for a gradually aging nation. Their health is therefore a matter of national importance.
Since the legalization of marijuana in Canada, 590 pregnant women have ended up in intensive care because of it. This is small relative to the country's population, but the number of such adventurous women is gradually increasing.
Doctors are sounding the alarm. For now, they are spreading information about the potential risks through the media and social networks. But if that doesn't help and the number of cases of marijuana abuse during pregnancy grows, the Ministry of Health will have to propose a new law to Parliament.
What worries doctors the most is the lack of data and research on this topic. Children whose mothers have used light drugs are quite few and their health has not been studied particularly thoroughly. In addition, there has been no opportunity to observe such children throughout their development. Therefore, health care professionals cannot even predict what kind of impact the mothers have on their children's health in the future. For example, what will such a person be like in old age? Will he or she have more illnesses? Will he be able to pass them on to his children genetically? The answers to these questions are not yet available, but doctors don't want to find out; otherwise, an entire generation of children will be guinea pigs. Doctors ask Canadian mothers not to take risks and give up bad habits during pregnancy and lactation.
