Medicinal Use of Cannabis in Children and Pregnant Women

• Main Author: Rana Cohen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rambam Health Care Campus 2020-01-01
• Series: Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal
• Subjects: autism; cannabidiol; cannabis; children; fetal alcohol spectrum disorder; tetrahydrocannabinol
• Online Access: https://www.rmmj.org.il/issues/44/992/manuscript

The increasing medicinal use of cannabis during recent years has largely overlooked children and pregnant women due to litigious and ethical concerns. However, over the last few years medicine has observed increasing numbers of children treated with cannabis for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), and pregnant women treated for hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). This review provides an account of major findings discovered through this research. Specifically, cannabis may offer therapeutic advantages to behavioral symptoms of autism spectrum disorder and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and to the severe nausea and vomiting in hyperemesis gravidarum. The use of medical cannabis in children and pregnant women should be further discussed and researched in this patient population.