Effects of prenatal cigarette and marijuana exposure on drug use among offspring

The present study investigated whether maternal cigarette smoking and marijuana use during pregnancy were associated with an increased risk of initiation and daily/regular use of such substances among one hundred fifty-two 16- to 21-year-old adolescent offspring. The participants were from a low risk, predominately middle-class sample participating in an ongoing, longitudinal study. Findings indicated that offspring whose mothers reported smoking cigarettes during their pregnancy were more than twice as likely to have initiated cigarette smoking during adolescence than offspring of mothers who reported no smoking while pregnant. Offspring of mothers who reported using marijuana during pregnancy were at increased risk for both subsequent initiation of cigarette smoking (OR=2.58) and marijuana use (OR=2.76), as well as daily cigarette smoking (OR=2.36), as compared to offspring of whose mothers did not report using marijuana while pregnant. There was also evidence indicating that dose-response relationships existed between prenatal exposure to marijuana and offspring's use of cigarettes and marijuana. These associations were found to be more pronounced for males than females, and remained after consideration of potential confounds. Such results suggest that maternal cigarette smoking and marijuana use during pregnancy are risk factors for later smoking and marijuana use among adolescent offspring, and add to the weight of evidence that can be used in support of programs aimed at drug use prevention and cessation among women during pregnancy.