New government-funded research from New Zealand indicates that mothers able to gain access to medical marijuana reported that its benefits contributed significantly to improving the quality of parenting by helping manage medical conditions more efficiently and tolerating stress better while caring for children.
Study participants also reported persistent obstacles, including high costs for legal products as well as stigma and legal risks that persist over time.
This week’s report from Drug and Alcohol Review featured interviews with 15 mothers who used medical cannabis (MC) either through prescribed use or the illicit market over the last year, either with prescriptions or from both channels. These mothers were asked about general usage patterns as well as conversations they have had with children regarding use, stigmatisation and risks they face from society and risks they might encounter from using cannabis themselves.
“Mothers reported mothercraft (MC) as an essential aid for parenting their children positively,” according to research, “while also managing their own healthcare needs (i.e. anxiety, endometriosis and arthritis).”
Mothers reported feeling that managing their health through Massey University of Auckland enabled them to be better parents while more effectively dealing with motherhood’s many stresses and strains, according to authors from Massey.
Mothers were recruited for this survey from among a larger pool of 38 participants as part of a larger project exploring women’s relationships with medical marijuana, who were interviewed individually either face-to-face or online via video call.
“Participants reported feeling that being able to manage physical pain and emotional distress with medical cannabis provided them with more positive feelings, making them feel happier and more present.”
Nearly half (46.6 percent) of mothers surveyed reported smoking marijuana regularly while smaller percentages used edibles (40%), oils (26.6 percent), vaporization (20 percent), tea (6.7%) or topicals (6.7%).
Most participants (53.3%), obtained their marijuana through an unregulated, illegal market; 33.3% obtained both prescription and illicit products at once while only two mothers (13.3%) stated using strictly prescription products exclusively.
As a parenting tool, the survey revealed that mothers ingested medical cannabis (MC) to soothe physical health symptoms such as spasms, aches, and crams; by eliminating pain they believed they could better focus their energy and attention on meeting the needs of their children and tending to their wellbeing.
“Similarly, mothers suffering from conditions such as anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or premenstrual dysphoric disorder found MC to make them calmer, more relaxed, and less overwhelmed; which in turn allowed them to communicate and connect better with their children,” according to the report.
Participants in our study generally felt that [medical cannabis] could help manage stressors of motherhood and foster positive relationships with their children, and improve overall functioning/ability to meaningfully engage. Some noted it even improved overall functioning/ability to meaningfully engage their lives!
“They reported feeling their children received better parenting,” according to this research, meaning more “happy, funny,” empathetic care versus being “grumpy and snapping at them”.
Respondents overwhelmingly reported they avoided cannabis consumption near their children, often forgoing it even for long periods.
“Despite strong advocacy of medical cannabis use during parenting, all participants emphasized its responsible use; for instance, when setting aside their parenting duties or after their children had gone to sleep,” wrote authors.
As one participant explained: “I would wait until evening so as not to have to worry about being present for my children or doing any tasks, which made me question whether my actions were depriving my kids of quality time with me.'”
Mothers with single parenthood who were low income or disabled reported difficulty affording medical marijuana and often purchased it illegally or grew their own plants to save costs.
“[Legal cannabis] is always last on my budget as I prioritize providing for the children first,” one remarked. Although its cost differs considerably from prescription medication, illegal cannabis still proves expensive for families to purchase and consume.
One reported being able to afford medical marijuana only “once every eight months.” Concerning conversation with their children, mothers promoted normalisation of cannabis use through three avenues; according to this research.
First, mothers compared cannabis as medicine alongside other prescription. Second, while society may view cannabis users negatively, cannabis offered therapeutic advantages that outweighed potential harms associated with use. Finally, “some mothers framed marijuana as natural product with therapeutic qualities.”
“All mothers believed that concealing their marijuana consumption would contribute to stigmatization and lead to children making incorrect assumptions or communicating inaccurately about it with others”, as detailed by a report published this month.
Participants with young children were generally enthusiastic about discussing medical cannabis (MC) with them in the future; others, though, expressed anxiety at having this discussion as they felt it might overwhelm or not necessary to disclose more than “MC is medicine”.
“We plan on being very upfront with her about any stigma that stems from history and society’s expectations of her, yet our family values don’t align with those societal ideals…so this explains why we made these choices and feel secure about them,” according to one mother.
Not only did mothers report social stigma from using medical cannabis, participants also identified legal risks varying by race.
“Several New Zealand European mothers believed their white race gave them protection from harsh treatment or criminality if caught by police with non-prescribed medical cannabis,” according to a report. This perception contrasted sharply with rhetoric from one Maori mother who felt prohibitive costs of prescribed MC prevent Maori from accessing products legally, leading them down illegal access routes instead.
One mother explained, “White privilege comes into play here by making me believe it unlikely I would face jail time if police discovered the substance I possess – given my ethnic background and educated vocabulary, there may be less chance that conviction occurs due to them finding it.”
“Those who weren’t married meanwhile voiced concerns that being single mothers using MC put them at greater risk of legal removal from care of their children,” according to the study. Additionally, three mothers either separated from or engaged in custody negotiations feared their MC use would be weaponised against them as evidence against irresponsible parenting, leading them to switch over from unregulated markets into legal prescriptions in recent months.”
Notably, due to a limited sample size and demographic representation, these findings do not fully represent “all mothers across all ethnicities, younger age cohorts, social backgrounds of identities using MC,” authors acknowledged.
“Nevertheless, these findings demonstrate the global legalisation of cannabis as a potential catalyst for shifting attitudes about parental marijuana use, as well as an emerging trend among women who use complementary alternative therapies,” according to the report. They also underscore the significance of creating guidelines and policies which enable healthcare providers and mothers alike to discuss cannabis use when providing healthcare or seeking legal MC products.
Women’s stories showed an internal struggle, between wanting to empower themselves by using medical cannabis (MC), discuss it with their children but then consuming MC after bedtime in order to prevent exposure of them, authors stated.
These findings from New Zealand add to a growing body of research concerning marijuana and parenting.
Recent findings by researchers at the University of Tennessee, Ohio State University and San Jose State University revealed that while most parents said they did not use marijuana around their children while present, those who consumed cannabis usually reported positive parenting behavior at roughly the same time they consumed it.
Overall, this study revealed a complex relationship between cannabis use and parenting among a sample of cannabis users; yet its results provided some useful insight on ways parents could engage in harm reduction to support positive parenting practices.
Last year, another study concluded that access to medical cannabis may increase parenting engagement by improving patients’ health and improving patient participation rates in activities related to mothering or fathering.
Legalizing medical marijuana could have significant positive implications on children’s development through increased parental time,” according to one study, particularly those under 6 who tend to reap greater long-run returns on parental investment.
Researchers cautioned that their findings only hold true if parents do not use cannabis illegally and report larger increases in parenting time among those less likely to utilize marijuana as an addiction reed.
Though research on marijuana policy’s effect on parenting behavior remains scarce, one 2023 study noted that states with legal medical cannabis saw nearly 20 percent fewer foster care admissions based on parental drug misuse – while legalizing adult marijuana usage wasn’t linked with any statistically significant decreases in foster care admissions.
Research done in 2022 did establish an indirect connection between adult-use legalization and foster care drug misuse cases; researchers from the University of Mississippi concluded in their 2022 research that recreational legalization led to at least 10% less foster care admissions overall, as reflected by reductions in physical abuse, neglect, parental imprisonment or misuse of alcohol or drugs among foster placements.
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