Most Young People Think Cannabis Is Harmful During Pregnancy and Want Doctors to Discuss It

Four themes emerged: AYAs believe cannabis is harmful during pregnancy, they are divided on whether prenatal exposure should be considered child abuse or neglect, they have mixed attitudes about cannabis and safe parenting, and they support healthcare professional counseling about prenatal cannabis use. More than one in three felt prenatal cannabis use should be classified as child abuse or neglect.

Qualitative content analysis of five open-ended survey questions delivered via text message to the MyVoice cohort (826 AYAs aged 14-24 nationally recruited from social media). 666 responded (80.6% response rate). Responses were coded and analyzed with descriptive statistics.

Prenatal cannabis use is rising even as risk perception declines among pregnant people. Understanding how young people -- many of whom will soon face reproductive decisions -- view prenatal cannabis use reveals both protective attitudes (believing it's harmful) and concerning divisions (on whether it's abuse) that should inform public health messaging.

There is a disconnect between declining risk perceptions among pregnant cannabis users and the concerns expressed by young people in this survey. Adolescents and young adults generally want more clinician guidance, suggesting a window of opportunity for prevention before and during pregnancy.

Convenience sample recruited from social media may not represent all AYAs. Open-ended text responses may lack the depth of in-person interviews. The survey was conducted during a specific cultural moment (2022) when attitudes are still evolving.