Doctors say parenting and pot smoking don’t mix
By Jane Greenhalgh, NPR
With more states legalizing recreational marijuana, parents are facing the question of whether they should smoke pot around their children.
“I have never smoked and would never smoke around my child,” says one mother who lives in San Francisco. California is one of eight states that allows recreational marijuana use for adults 21 and older.
This woman uses marijuana to treat her migraines and insomnia, but she never uses it around her 5-year-old son. (She asked that her name not be used because marijuana use remains a federal offense.) “I don’t want to impact his air quality by the decisions I’m making,” she says.
This is the right decision, according to research by Karen Wilson, a pediatrician and lead author of a study showing that children absorb chemicals from secondhand marijuana smoke.