Birthing parents are turning to cannabis during pregnancy more readily as legalization becomes a nationwide phenomenon. Research on the topic continues to see-saw, displaying positives and negatives to weed during pregnancy. While the baby’s health is of the utmost importance, there is more to it. Birthing parents often wonder whether they could face criminal charges or have their child taken away due to cannabinoids in their system.

Many nurses and medical professionals would say no, but that changes in states with little to no form of legal weed. In a shocking turn of events, a state with medical weed is the second most apt to penalize pregnant and postpartum mothers for a positive THC drug test.

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A study sought out to understand the breadth of criminal charges associated with pregnancy, pregnancy loss, and birth. From 2022 to 2023, the number of pregnant people charged is the highest since researchers began their inquiry. Data fingered Alabama as the most apt to charge pregnant people for drugs, followed by Oklahoma, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, and Texas. This raises an issue. Those struggling with addiction may be less apt to seek treatment or preventative care in these places.

Of the charged defendants, 20 percent are white, 14 percent Black, six percent Native American, and four percent Latino. Seven percent did not specify a single racial identity. A majority of those charged are considered low-income.

Few people would argue against keeping babies safe, but there was never proof that many of these babies were in harm’s way. Many of these cases posed charges, allowing a prosecutor to convict without proof of fetal damage.

87 percent of convictions held a “lack of harm requirement.” This means that “defendants can be found guilty even if the pregnancy results in a healthy child and even when the science does not support the assumption that a positive drug test proves the fetus was harmed.”

Only 10 percent of the recorded convictions showed any harm to the unborn baby.

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THC of some form was consumed in 41 percent of these cases, and 15 percent of total cases were for psychoactive cannabinoids alone, according to the prosecutor. Five of the charged pregnant people held active medical cannabis cards. This news may come as a shock to birthing parents in legal states sliding stoned into the delivery rooms without a problem, but that is not the reality for everyone.

This data shows that even a medical card may not protect people who consume cannabis while pregnant. Until there are definitive rulings from a medical provider or birth center, the safest bet is to abstain from weed when birthing in these states to avoid charges.