Will Marijuana ever lose its stigma?

Lila • 🕉Writer, biker, researcher and world traveler! 💻🏍📑🗺 Twin boys due soon! 👶👶

I've seen a few posts asking about Weed in various contexts lately and reading some of the comments on my post about the Toronto pop-up with an HIV+ BOH got me wondering how long it takes to get rid of a stigma, or if it's even possible in every case. Info directly from the CDC was provided, yet there were so many comments regarding "spit" despite decades of research that concretely prove otherwise. The difference between the two is that there is a substantial amount of research on the transmission of and cure for HIV, but little to none on Marijuana, particularly the effects on neonatal outcomes after exposure in utero. I thought I'd start there since there are so many opinions on what a person can or cannot do while pregnant. We know for a fact that it's against regulations to willfully give pregnant people recreational drugs in a controlled environment, which explains the lack of studies. Additionally, there was one longitudinal study conducted in Jamaica by Dr. Melanie Dreher in which she found no differences between babies whose mothers smoked while pregnant and those who didn't. [It's easy to find the link. My posts get deleted when I include it] However, this was not the outcome the funding institution wanted and so she was blacklisted. It's also important to note that follow-up research conducted to repeat results doesn't even come close to happening as often as it should since most researchers are concerned with the "publish or perish" rule and are thus in a position to be pioneers of new discoveries. That, coupled with the nature of Mary Jane creates obstacles. Despite these, do you think one day there will be as much stigma surrounding Marijuana in any context as there is to women driving (depending on where you live of course 🙄)?

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