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Why Alcohol, Not Cannabis, Is Fueling Surprise Pregnancies in Young Women
Scitech Daily ^ | August 06, 2025 | Society for the Study of Addiction

Posted on 08/06/2025 7:15:58 AM PDT by Red Badger

Heavy drinking, not cannabis, was tied to a sharp increase in unintended pregnancies—even among women actively trying to avoid them.

The study reveals a gap between intention and outcome that alcohol may be widening.

A Risky Link Between Alcohol and Unwanted Pregnancy

According to a new study, women who strongly wanted to avoid pregnancy were significantly more likely to become pregnant if they engaged in heavy drinking. Their risk was 50% higher compared to women who drank moderately or did not drink at all. On the other hand, cannabis use showed no connection to increased chances of undesired pregnancy. Women who used cannabis were just as likely to avoid pregnancy as those who didn’t use it.

The study began with a larger group of over 2,000 non-pregnant women between the ages of 15 and 34. From that group, researchers focused on 936 participants who expressed a clear desire not to get pregnant. Among them, 429 reported heavy alcohol use (based on a standard alcohol screening questionnaire), and 362 reported using cannabis. Of those cannabis users, 157 said they used it daily or almost daily.

Interestingly, both heavy drinkers and frequent cannabis users were more likely to report a stronger desire to avoid pregnancy compared to those who drank lightly or not at all, and those who didn’t use cannabis.

Heavy Drinking Drives Pregnancy Risk

Over the following year, 71 of the 936 women who were actively trying not to get pregnant ended up becoming pregnant. More than half of those unintended pregnancies (38) occurred in the group that drank heavily. That number exceeded the combined total among women who drank moderately or didn’t drink at all. The findings suggest that heavy alcohol use is clearly linked to a higher risk of undesired pregnancy when compared with lower or no alcohol consumption.

Cannabis Use Shows No Elevated Risk

In contrast, less than half of the 71 undesired pregnancies (28) occurred among people who used cannabis, meaning that those who used cannabis did not show an elevated risk of undesired pregnancy compared with people who did not use cannabis.

Lead author Dr. Sarah Raifman, of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, comments: “This study made two important findings. First, non-pregnant women who drink heavily appear, on average, to have a higher desire to avoid pregnancy than those who drink moderately or not at all. Second, drinking heavily as opposed to moderately or not at all appears to put those who most want to avoid pregnancy at higher risk of becoming pregnant within one year. Finding out why those pregnancies happen is the next step in our research.”

Health Implications and Medical Guidance

“In the meantime, given the potentially life-altering effects of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (which occur when a fetus is exposed to alcohol through the mother’s drinking) and the fact that the risk of FASD increases with the amount and duration of the mother’s drinking, it’s important for doctors and clinicians to support women who drink heavily to stop drinking as soon as they suspect an unintentional pregnancy.”

Reference:

“Alcohol and drug use and attainment of pregnancy preferences in the southwestern United States: A longitudinal cohort study”

by Sarah Raifman, Sarah C. M. Roberts and Corinne H. Rocca, 30 July 2025, Addiction.

DOI: 10.1111/add.70135


TOPICS: Food; Health/Medicine; History; Society
KEYWORDS: beer; etoh; liquor; pregnancy; spirits; weed; wine
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LIQUOR IS QUICKER....................Always has been...........😉
1 posted on 08/06/2025 7:15:58 AM PDT by Red Badger
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To: Lazamataz

Ping!..................Your opinion is ?...................


2 posted on 08/06/2025 7:16:29 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

Who doesn’t know that?


3 posted on 08/06/2025 7:18:31 AM PDT by ComputerGuy
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To: Red Badger
Heavy Drinking Drives Pregnancy Risk

Knock me over with a feather.

4 posted on 08/06/2025 7:18:33 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Red Badger

Getting drunk can lead to having sex and getting pregnant?

Who knew?


5 posted on 08/06/2025 7:19:17 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd (Import the third world. Become the second world.)
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To: Red Badger

This is news?

I learned this in college. (Actually, I learned this when I was in high school and went to college bars). Girls with a number of drinks in them really like to dance.... and more...


6 posted on 08/06/2025 7:19:58 AM PDT by z3n (Kakistocracy)
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To: Red Badger

Pot makes you sleepy. Booze makes you horny. LOL. Always has.


7 posted on 08/06/2025 7:20:26 AM PDT by buffyt (Yesterday's bad decisions become today's funny stories. )
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To: Red Badger
Over the following year, 71 of the 936 women who were actively trying not to get pregnant ended up becoming pregnant.

A woman actively trying to NOT get pregnant should avoid one specific activity. In fact, I dare say that if she engages in this specific activity, she is NOT actively trying to not get pregnant. She's lying ...

8 posted on 08/06/2025 7:21:21 AM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Red Badger

I agree. Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker. Pointer I was given so long ago.


9 posted on 08/06/2025 7:23:04 AM PDT by silent majority rising (When it is dark enough, men see the stars. Ralph Waldo Emerson)
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To: Red Badger

5,000 years of truth.


10 posted on 08/06/2025 7:24:46 AM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: Red Badger

Jimmy Buffett told a joke for years in every show:

The mating call of the Southern coed is “ah’m soooo drunk.”


11 posted on 08/06/2025 7:26:17 AM PDT by coldcash
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To: coldcash

“So, barmaid, bring a pitcher, another round of brew…”


12 posted on 08/06/2025 7:27:31 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Red Badger

There was a song about this. Something like, when I / she drink(s) tequila my / her clothes fall off.

That aside, this is stupid. No really serious person would find a need for a study of such a thing since it is so well known and what is the benefit. What a waste of time and money.


13 posted on 08/06/2025 7:29:13 AM PDT by Sequoyah101
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To: Sequoyah101
There was a song about this. Something like, when I / she drink(s) tequila my / her clothes fall off.

Why Don't We Get Drunk And Screw - Live (1978 Version) on Spotify. Song · Jimmy Buffett,

14 posted on 08/06/2025 7:31:40 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Red Badger

Liquor, helping ugly women get pregnant ever since it was invented


15 posted on 08/06/2025 7:32:03 AM PDT by algore
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To: algore

16 posted on 08/06/2025 7:35:54 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Red Badger

When did this get to be a new discovery? 😆


17 posted on 08/06/2025 7:37:33 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: Red Badger

Put another way... being a stoner girl who reeks of weed is a form of birth control.


18 posted on 08/06/2025 7:38:37 AM PDT by irishjuggler
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To: irishjuggler
Put another way... being a stoner girl who reeks of weed is a form of birth control.

Seriously, Grateful Dead music is not exactly romantic.

19 posted on 08/06/2025 7:39:34 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Red Badger

Article does not support headline!

Why Alcohol, Not Cannabis, Is Fueling Surprise Pregnancies in Young Women

Finding out why those pregnancies happen is the next step in our research.”


20 posted on 08/06/2025 7:40:19 AM PDT by TexasGator (There is no Sharknado system)
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