Project Grant R01DA066717

Boston College has been awarded $372,936 by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279) to conduct a longitudinal research study examining the effects of recreational cannabis legalization policies on prenatal cannabis use and associated maternal and child health outcomes. The project, awarded June 15, 2026 with completion targeted for April 30, 2030, will deliver comprehensive epidemiological research utilizing a novel data linkage between Maine's Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System cohorts (2016-2023) and state health claims databases. The research will provide empirical analysis covering approximately 6,307 pregnant women and their children, tracking cannabis, tobacco, and alcohol use patterns across a six-year window from two years prior to conception through three years postpartum (2014-2026).

The research deliverables will include rigorous evaluation of state and county-level recreational cannabis policy effects on substance use and health outcomes, taking advantage of Maine's natural policy experiment whereby legalization occurred in January 2017 with staggered retail sales implementation across counties beginning October 2020. The study will generate evidence-based findings regarding policy spillover effects on other substances, birth outcomes, maternal and child health trajectories, provider assessment practices, and variation in policy effects across individual and area-level demographic and socioeconomic factors. These research products will address significant knowledge gaps in understanding cannabis legalization's real-world health impacts during a critical period of rapid policy evolution across 24 states and the District of Columbia.