AUTHOR=Torres Ciara A. , Medina-Kirchner Christopher , O'Malley Kate Y. , Hart Carl L. 

TITLE=Totality of the Evidence Suggests Prenatal Cannabis Exposure Does Not Lead to Cognitive Impairments: A Systematic and Critical Review

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00816

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00816

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Despite limited data demonstrating pronounced negative effects of prenatal cannabis exposure, popular opinion and public policies still reflect the belief that cannabis is fetotoxic.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> This article provides a critical review of results from longitudinal studies examining the impact of prenatal cannabis exposure on multiple domains of cognitive functioning in individuals aged 0 to 22 years. A literature search was conducted through PsycINFO, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Articles were included if they examined the cognitive performance of offspring exposed to cannabis <italic>in utero</italic>.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> An examination of the total number of statistical comparisons (<italic>n</italic> = 1,001) between groups of participants that were exposed to cannabis prenatally and non-exposed controls revealed that those exposed performed differently on a minority of cognitive outcomes (worse on &lt;3.5 percent and better in &lt;1 percent). The clinical significance of these findings appears to be limited because cognitive performance scores of cannabis-exposed groups overwhelmingly fell within the normal range when compared against normative data adjusted for age and education.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> The current evidence does not suggest that prenatal cannabis exposure alone is associated with clinically significant cognitive functioning impairments.</p>