Could Cannabis Legalization Be Making It Harder for Pregnant Women to Finish Treatment?

Rogie Royce Z. Carandang, PhD, MPH, MSc, RPh, faculty in the Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, has published research regarding the effect of cannabis legalization on women completing substance abuse treatment.

As cannabis laws have shifted rapidly across the U.S., pregnancy has remained a uniquely high-stakes period for substance use treatment—yet cannabis is still the most commonly used illicit substance during pregnancy. In a national analysis of more than 13,000 pregnant women admitted for cannabis use treatment between 2020 and 2022, a striking pattern emerged: fewer than one in three completed treatment. When researchers compared outcomes by state policy environment, treatment completion was dramatically less likely in states where cannabis was legal—whether fully legalized or medical-only—than in states where cannabis remained illegal.

Readers may read the research free of charge through the end of February at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871626000049?dgcid=coauthor.