Marilyn A. Huestis, PhD, recently retired as chief of chemistry and drug metabolism at the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Drug Abuse but remains highly active in the field. She is a senior fellow at the Lambert Center for the Study of Medicinal Cannabis and Hemp at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pa.; consultant to the US Department of Transportation; and serves on the Science Advisory Boards of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and National Families in Action. She is known for her research on how marijuana use affects driving and how exposure to parents’ marijuana use affects the developing fetus, breast-feeding newborns, and young children, as well as the new psychoactive substances.

Key Points

• In utero drug exposure—growth, behavior, IQ, learning, memory
• Some obstetricians in Colorado are recommending marijuana to pregnant women
• Infants and toddlers are exposed if parents smoke
• Exposed via breast feeding
• Adolescents
• Whole spectrum of ways children can be exposed

Next Up? Dr. Vandrey on Marijuana Edibles, CBD & What is Synthesis?