Cannabis Teratology Explains Current Patterns of Coloradan Congenital Defects: The Contribution of Increased Cannabinoid Exposure to Rising Teratological Trends

Abstract

Rising Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentrations in modern cannabis invites investigation of the teratological implications of prenatal cannabis exposure. Data from Colorado Responds to Children with Special Needs (CRCSN), National Survey of Drug Use and Health, and Drug Enforcement Agency was analyzed. Seven, 40, and 2 defects were rising, flat, and falling, respectively, and 10/12 summary indices rose. Atrial septal defect, spina bifida, microcephalus, Down’s syndrome, ventricular septal defect, and patent ductus arteriosus rose, and along with central nervous system, cardiovascular, genitourinary, respiratory, chromosomal, and musculoskeletal defects rose 5 to 37 times faster than the birth rate (3.3%) to generate an excess of 11 753 (22%) major anomalies. Cannabis was the only drug whose use grew from 2000 to 2014 while pain relievers, cocaine, alcohol, and tobacco did not. The correlation of cannabis use with major defects in 2014 (2019 dataset) was R = .77, P = .0011. Multiple cannabinoids were linked with summary measures of congenital anomalies and were robust to multivariate adjustment.

Broad Spectrum Epidemiological Contribution of Cannabis, Tobacco and Alcohol to the Teratological Profile of Northern New South Wales: Geospatial and Causal Inference Analysis

“…Some of these associations have been previously reported [3,4,18] and were seen in our unpublished analyses of US data.…”

“…Rising rates of cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and respiratory defects, and their rst principal component were associated with falling rates of tobacco and alcohol use but rising cannabis use, just as was found in Colorado and USA [3].…”

“…Despite the several technical shortcomings of this dataset it is fascinating for the details and tantalizing clues which have been revealed. Importantly most of its major ndings have been con rmed previously in other locations particularly in Colorado, Hawaii, Canada, and USA and by professional bodies such as AHA, AAP and CDC lending support to the strength of its principal results [2,3,11,13,16,17].…”

“…Neural tube defects were noted to be elevated in a cannabis-related manner in Canada and Hawaii [4,11]. ASD, PDA ACD and Downs were seen to rise in close temporal association with increased cannabis use in Colorado [3].…”

Les effets épigénétiques du cannabis/tétrahydrocannabinol

“…Dès les années 1970 des équipes s'étaient penchées sur les effets tératogènes de cette drogue, alors que la fréquence de sa consommation ainsi que sa concentration en THC étaient nettement moindres[25,26]. Cette population du Colorado, aussi largement intoxiquée, constitue un milieu propice pour étudier l'évolution de la fréquence des manifestations tératogènes, en relation avec cette drogue ; c'est une telle étude que viennent de réaliser Reece et Hulse[27]. Alors que la consommation des autres droguesdemeurait stable (alcool, tabac, cocaïne, etc.)…”