Can smoking Marijuana cause Down Syndrome?

Question

I know someone who is due in a couple weeks and just recently found out her baby has down syndrome. I know this woman smoked cigarettes and I found out she smoked Marijuana throughout her pregnancy also. Her first baby she did the same and she came out alright thank God, but thi sbaby has Down syndrom they said and needs open heart surgery right away when she is born and her chin is small too. Can this be from her smoking pot(weed) or is it just chromosonal and has nothing to do with what she did or didnt do?? please show facts or sites to back up the answers so i know and its not just an opinion. Thank You all and pray for the baby and pray the mother wisens up now and turns her life around and takes care of the baby as she needs taken care of, please.

Answer 1

you actually want statistics that state that smoking cigarettes *which has a damn warning label DUH!* and a MIND ALTERING drug causes birth defects? that's common sense!!

your friend should have been sterilized before she had the chance to screw up two little sweet lives like that! you say the oldest is fine...perhaps outwardly...but how do you know this kid won't have learning disabilities due to her thoughtlessness!
unbelievable!

Answer 2

Whether or not the baby has down syndrome is determined at the moment of conception. From that point on, nothing that the woman does can cause it or take it away. However, smoking marijuana pre-pregnancy might cause down syndrome. I've never heard that it does but I'm just saying it is possible.

The Down syndrome is probably just a fluke. It's always nice to be able to say that someone has a certain problem because of what they did because it makes us feel immune to that problem (I don't smoke weed, therefore my child will not have down syndrome or at least be less likely to) but for the most part things like that just happen or they don't and we don't know why.

Answer 3

No smoking weed does not cause down syndrome. Down syndrome is mental and physical symptoms that result from having an extra copy of chromosome 21. Smoking weed moderately wont hurt the baby, it does make it easier for u and the baby because it relaxes you and allows less stress. However, since smoking weed is illegal, hospitals are allowed to do a drug test on you and baby without warning and if the drug test is failed they can take all children in the the household.

Answer 4

I have got to seriously doubt that there is any kind of connection. Downs is a missing chromosome and that's not something that can be altered after conception any more than the sex of the child. I think that your friend DID NOT do this do her child through the use of marijuana. Anyone that tells her that better be a MD. Your friend should not carry around guilt for something that was out of her control. Women who are in perfect health and have never smoked a thing have babies with downs every day!

NOUN:

A congenital disorder, caused by the presence of an extra 21st chromosome, in which the affected person has mild to moderate mental retardation, short stature, and a flattened facial profile. Also called trisomy 21 .

What causes Down syndrome?

Down syndrome is caused by abnormal cell division very early in fetal development. This abnormal division produces an extra or irregular chromosome in some or all of the body's cells. Chromosomes carry genetic material (DNA), or genes, to every cell in the body. The extra or irregular chromosome causes the body and brain to develop differently than in people who have normal chromosomes

Dont blame the weed! I do wish your friend well, but plz stop acting like weed is crack there is no physical addiction so i doubt that shes a bad mother because she likes to smoke a natural substance! Lets face it ALL of our children cannot be perfect and even if we do EVERYTHING right, things can and still do go wrong!

Answer 5

First I want to say cannabinoids CBD, and THC, tetrahydrocannibinol are both beneficial for good health and longevity. THC makes the brain release its own pain killing chemicals dopamine and serotonin, you cannot overdose from your own brains chemicals! CBD, cannabidiol is identical to the cannabinoids in the human bloodstream, it is like an oil to the blood that clings to good blood cells, and makes mutated cells start dying (cell death)! So, If it cleans the blood how can it effect the baby in a negative way? I hate to say this, but your friend could have had one beer and messed up the structure of the babies brain, I would believe alcohol or prescription drugs could be the culprit, but not an organic plant the creator of all things gave Adam in the garden of Eden, he said, and all seed bearing herbs(plants) will be to you as for meat, meaning (knowledge)! This plant is special, it has all three of the necessities to sustain life, the male is, clothing, shelter, and protection, (weapons), and the female is food, and medicine! Please see; documentary on CNN Dr. Sanja Gupta , Weed 2 Madness. This friend did not harm her baby by consuming cannabis, please see "Cannabis and its effects on human health" with Dr. David Bearman. Glad I could answer your question, and defend a plant that has saved my life once with Cancer, and then the second time was MRSA spread to my brain, I looked like elephant man! I refused all pharmaceutical drugs, and no chemo, and ingested cannabis everyday, eaten, smoked, and vaporized, and still do, migraines have went from daily to less than 1 a month, they were constant, and nothing helped but cannabis, I am against pharmaceuticals, and alcohol should be illegal not cannabis, anyway that's just my opinion. good luck with your friend and her baby may Yahweh bless you all!

Answer 6

There is no evidence at all that marijuana has anything to do with Downs Syndrome. In fact, there is little evidence that marijuana has any real negative effects on in utero babies at all. It could be fairly well assumed that pregnant women should not take drugs just for safety's sake, but there is no evidence that marijuana harms the fetus.

You can find volumes of information on the health effects of marijuana in the collection of Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy at http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/studies.htm

If you are up for reading the full text of extensive medical research on the subject, see the Cannabis Research Library at http://www.druglibrary.org/crl The sum of the evidence is that there is no connection between marijuana use and long-term damage to the baby.

Answer 7

I don't think there's any evidence that drug use during pregnancy can cause Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome is a chromosomal defect which is pretty much set in stone from the moment of conception. Which is not to say that drug use during pregnancy can't cause a huge variety of other problems.

Answer 8

Honey the only thing that can cause down syndrome is the chromosomes but smoking marijuana can cause for a lot of other birth defects, my sisters best friend smoked the whole time she was pregnant and her son's teeth wont come in and he is 5 the dentist said that both sets (baby and adult) will push in at the same time eventually. His gums are hard as rocks, he also has no finger nails or toe nails and his tear ducts are messed up he always looks like he's crying.

Answer 9

Pot and pregnancy don't mix. Marijuana contains over 300 chemicals. The active ingredient, THC (tetra-hydro-cannabinol) influences brain chemistry in a way similar to alcohol. It affects your memory and slows your thinking and reflexes.

Marijuana has been shown to affect babies, too.
We know that marijuana crosses the placenta, and can be found in the newborn's body for up to a month after a single use. Just like smoking tobacco, it causes less oxygen and food to get to the baby. This factor alone affects your baby's growth and brain development. Newborns of mothers who have used marijuana throughout pregnancy cry more. Some studies suggest that children exposed to marijuana while in the womb are at increased risk for attention disorders and learning problems that might not show up until school age.

Answer 10

Marijuana does not cause Down syndrome, but she is harming her baby by smoking tobacco and/or pot. I hope that in her drug-induced state she is coherent enough to get the child help so that the baby has a chance to grow and thrive. What she is doing is a form of child abuse in my book.

Answer 11

What a selfish person your friend is.
I woulden't even smoke a cigarette let alone marjuana
even if that is not the cause its the facts that there are risks and she could have sacrificed her smokeing for nine months.
That poor child she deserves a better mother she is in my prays