71% of Arizona Budtenders Recommended Cannabis Products for Morning Sickness

71.2% of budtenders recommended cannabis products for morning sickness, particularly CBD products and edibles. Some recommended inhalation products (12.2%) and tinctures (18.9%). While 85.6% eventually encouraged medical consultation, only 34.6% did so without prompting. A few (5.4%) recommended topical products.

Descriptive observational study using mystery calling. Two researchers called 104 Arizona dispensaries between February-April 2024, asking about morning sickness management and documenting budtender responses on standardized forms.

Morning sickness is common and distressing, but cannabis use during pregnancy is associated with adverse outcomes. Budtenders actively recommending cannabis for morning sickness without proactively suggesting medical consultation could put pregnant consumers and their babies at risk.

This mirrors the broader pattern of budtenders providing health recommendations beyond their training. With prenatal cannabis use increasing and evidence of fetal harm growing, the gap between dispensary recommendations and medical evidence is particularly concerning.

Arizona only, which may not represent other states. Mystery calling captures initial phone interactions, not in-person consultations. Cannot determine what information was communicated beyond the scripted scenario. 67% response rate means one-third of dispensaries were not reached.