The Nation - News from March 23, 1989

Women who smoke marijuana during pregnancy may stunt the growth of their fetuses, producing babies who are smaller than normal, a study published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine shows. The research found that mothers who smoked pot while pregnant produced babies who averaged three ounces lighter and two-tenths of an inch shorter than non-users’ newborns. Although their study does not definitely prove that marijuana slows growth in the womb, the researchers said that pot smoking is common during pregnancy, and women should be cautioned about the link. “It definitely supports the case that marijuana has an effect on the fetus,” said Coryl Jones, a research psychologist at the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Bethesda, Md.