Puff may be a magic dragon, but despite the flower-child message of that 1963 Peter, Paul and Mary hit, it's all evil magic when you consider the effects of marijuana on the health of a newborn.

Unfortunately, more women are smoking marijuana — and more are doing it while pregnant. A 2019 study in JAMA Network Open found that over the past eight years, the number of women who'd smoked pot in the year before they became pregnant had almost doubled to 12.5%, and nearly 3.5% of women were smoking while pregnant.

Whatever the number has become today, with increased legalization and pandemic blues, it's too high (pun intended).

The research looked at data on more than 59,000 women and found that newborns whose moms were exposed to marijuana while pregnant were at risk for low birth weight and being small for their gestational age; being born preterm; being admitted to the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit); having a smaller head circumference; and having a lower Apgar score (assessing breathing, heart rate, muscle tone, reflexes and skin color) at one minute after birth.

Those health challenges are similar to what happens to children affected by fetal alcohol syndrome (caused by mothers drinking while pregnant). These kids born after in-utero exposure to marijuana or alcohol often have feeding problems, asthma, and increased risk of infection, as well as visual, hearing, learning, and behavioral problems.

So do your baby a favor and skip the pot.