“I’m being convicted of smoking medical marijuana while pregnant.”

Clarissa Morales, 21, a full-time mother, explained that before she became pregnant, she was prescribed medical cannabis by her doctor to treat her mental health issues and pain from an existing back fracture.

While she quit smoking when she was pregnant with her first child, now 13 months old, as her mental health deteriorated, she tried using alternatives such as edibles (marijuana-infused foods).

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But she also suffered from a debilitating form of morning sickness, which meant she could only consume cannabis by smoking it, and she found it also helped to “keep the nausea at bay”.

Clarissa, who is now 32 weeks pregnant with her second child, said that while in an ideal world she wouldn’t smoke while pregnant, she believes there are benefits to treating her existing ailments and morning sickness ultimately the risks outweigh the risks.

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“My mental health deteriorated – it got really bad”

Her decision has caused a stir online, where she has been accused of putting her baby’s health at risk.

She even removed her TikTok pages for discussing the topic of smoking while pregnant as it is against the community guidelines.

“I was originally prescribed the medication before pregnancy for my mental health and back pain.

“I used it and thought, ‘Wow, my head is finally clear for the first time and my back isn’t killing me anymore!’

“When I was pregnant for the first time, I stopped doing it. I stopped for about three weeks. But my mental health soon deteriorated – it got really bad.”

“Because of my morning sickness, I was constantly vomiting, including blood. My esophagus tore open. Cannabis was the only thing that kept the nausea at bay.”

“I tried all possible methods to treat my symptoms, but none of them helped.”

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“There was more reward than anything else.”

When Clarissa decided to smoke marijuana while pregnant, she kept her use to a minimum.

She explained that she had previously suffered from miscarriages and was willing to do anything to give birth to her daughter, as she had never been pregnant for such a long time.

“I didn’t want to lose my baby,” Clarissa said of her first child.

“I had to think about what method would work best and fastest. I really had to weigh the risk versus the benefit, and there was more benefit than anything else.”

“It’s not something I enjoy, but what other option is there if I throw up in the hospital?”

“I like to call it an herbal medicine because that’s exactly what it is. It’s something I take to relieve my discomfort.”

“It’s very stigmatized. I’ve lost countless TikTok accounts just for talking about it. People put medical users together with recreational users, which is very frustrating because I don’t do it for fun.”

“I only get my marijuana from the pharmacy.”

Clarissa explained that her current pregnancy is going well and her baby is developing as expected.

“My baby is growing. They measure on time and the anatomy scan went great,” she said.

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“You shouldn’t feel guilty about trying to survive.”

When asked if her marijuana use had affected her daughter, she explained that although she was born with a low birth weight, her severe morning sickness was to blame.

“She was born at 42 weeks pregnant weighing five pounds, 10 ounces, so she was small,” she said.

“The doctors attributed this to the fact that I lost about 30 pounds during the pregnancy. But she was completely healthy.”

“She is now 13 months old and is actually quite advanced for her age. She has been crawling since she was four months old and started walking properly when she was ten months old.”

Clarissa hopes that by sharing her story, she can help other people who may be facing the same difficult decision.

“You shouldn’t feel guilty about trying to survive because you matter too. Especially with mental health issues, pregnancy can really take your mind to a very dark place,” she said.

“Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to survive.”