New government-funded research out of New Zealand finds that mothers who were able to access medical marijuana reported that cannabis improved their quality of parenting by allowing them to more effectively manage health conditions and tolerate the stress of caring for children.
At the same time, study participants reported persistent obstacles, such as the high cost of legal products and ongoing stigma and legal risks.
The new report, published this week in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review, drew from interviews with 15 mothers who used medical cannabis (MC) obtained either through prescriptions, the illicit market or both during the past year. They were asked about use in general, their conversations with children, societal stigma and risks.
“Mothers reported MC as an important facilitator of their ability to positively parent their children,” the study found, “enabling them to manage their own health needs (i.e., anxiety, endometriosis and arthritis).”
Mothers also reported feeling that “managing their health with MC allowed them to be more present parents and better tolerate the stressors of motherhood,” wrote authors at Massey University in Auckland.
The mothers were recruited for the survey from a larger group of 38 participants who were part of a larger project around women’s relationship with medical marijuana. They were interviewed one-on-one either in person or via an online video call.
“Participants felt that being able to manage their physical pain and mental distress with [medical cannabis] meant they were in a better mood and more present.”
Nearly half the mothers who participated (46.6 percent) said they primarily smoked marijuana, while smaller proportions reported using edibles (40 percent), oils (26.6 percent), vaporization (20 percent), tea (6.7 percent) and topicals (6.7 percent).
Most obtained marijuana through the unregulated, illegal market (53.3 percent), while a third of participants (33.3 percent) reported accessing both prescription and illicit products. Only two mothers (13.3 percent) said they used exclusively prescription products.
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