Study Finds Cannabis Impairs Fetal Brain Development

Marijuana

A new study conducted by a group of international researchers has found cannabis use during pregnancy endangers development of the unborn child’s brain.

According to the Karolinska Institute in Sweden–one of the medical schools involved in the study–the study shows “consuming cannabis during pregnancy clearly results in defective development of nerve cells of the [fetus’] cerebral cortex, the part of the brain that orchestrates higher cognitive functions and drives memory formation.”

Researchers indicated the effects would be long-lasting–possibly lifelong–and may not materialize until well after the child is born.

Researchers also noted that as marijuana plants are increasingly cultivated to contain greater levels of THC, the risk posed to unborn children rises as well.

“During the past decades, selective agriculture of Cannabis spp. resulted in increased THC content at the expense of cannabidiol (Pitts et al, 1992; Pijlman et al, 2005). In the context of the present study, this is of particular concern since we predict that higher THC concentrations will be, upon efficient cross‐placental transfer (Grotenhermen, 2003), increasingly detrimental for fetal development and postnatal health. Therefore, irrespective of the legal status of cannabis, caution must be exercised to hinder fetal cannabis exposure due to its unequivical impact on the establishment of synaptic connectivity in neuronal networks underpinning memory encoding, cognition and executive skills.”

This just goes to show, yet again, that marijuana may be a lot of things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.

Click here to read the study.

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RNC Chair Presence at 2014 March for Life in D.C. First in Recent History

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The following blog post is by Family Council staff member Luke McCoy.

It is encouraging to know that a pro-life party had its chair attend an annual March for Life this year.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus joined hundreds of thousands of pro-life supporters at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for the 2014 national March for Life.

Many would figure this is a forgone conclusion and find it ironic or odd for a current RNC chairman not to attend such a meaningful event. However, Chairman Priebus’ attendance marks the first time in recent history that a national party chair has attended the March for Life. It is safe to say, however, that the pro-choice party chair will not be attending any March for Life events soon, even though roughly half of Americans identify themselves as pro-life, and 58% believe abortion should be either completely illegal or legal only under a few circumstances.

We as Arkansans are encouraged by the regular appearance of GOP State Chairman Doyle Webb at our state’s annual March For Life in Little Rock.

You can read Chairman Priebus’s thoughts on the importance of the March for Life and being pro-life here.

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Arkansas TeaPot Party Calls for Total Marijuana Legalization

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Richard Morton, head of the Arkansas TeaPot Party, is asking state lawmakers to legalize marijuana when the legislature convenes for its 2014 budget session.

Morton, of Shirley, is proposing the Willie Nelson Act, a law that would totally legalize marijuana in all forms. In addition, the law would release anyone from jail who is there on a nonviolent marijuana conviction. Since his law would allow the state to tax the marijuana, he believes it is an appropriate measure for lawmakers to consider during the budget session.

In previous legislative sessions, lawmakers have avoided introducing even limited marijuana measures, so it is unlikely that such a far-reaching measure would have any support among Arkansas lawmakers. And let’s not forget no matter what law a state legislature passes, marijuana is still 100% illegal to grow, sell, or possess under federal law.

More than half a dozen efforts are underway to make marijuana legal in Arkansas. This latest effort shows us where things are headed. Morton and the TeaPot Party are on the fast track. The “medical” marijuana folks are on a slower track, but they all end up at the same place—total legalization of marijuana. The states of Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana for “medical” purposes a few years ago. The drug got so out of control there that they finally threw in the towel and made it totally legal.

While Morton’s “Willie Nelson” law would be the most wide-open marijuana law in the country, at least his intentions are out in the open. Backers of other efforts to legalize marijuana in Arkansas seem to share Morton’s view, but veil their marijuana proposals behind a “medical” smoke screen of helping the sick and dying.

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