Table 1. Themes, Subthemes, and Exemplar Quotes About the Perceived Impacts of Cannabis Legalization for Adult Use.

Theme and subthemes	Salient quote
Greater access and exposure to cannabis
Retailer availability	“You look at the cannabis clubs on the corners, that it’s literally like a liquor store here. You know, the easy access, the convenience.”
	“I feel like it’s like corner stores. Like, you know how they say in like in low-income neighborhoods, like, they always have corner stores instead of Whole Foods or something like that? And I feel like the more we see cannabis clubs like the more people are gonna want to go to ‘em or use it, you know, like if they was going to the corner store and getting junk food.”
	“I think now weed is easier to get more than ever, probably easier to get than cigarettes.”
Convenience and discretion of delivery	“I think people are smoking more now because there are deliveries where people are not actually going to the actual dispensaries, but it’s being delivered to their house either for free or for a deal. So, the fact that it’s being dropped off to you, I think, makes a big difference. It’s a little more discreet as well.”
	“It’s just a lot safer and easier and more convenient to go for a delivery….I’m definitely in a different stage of my life. Like, I’m not trying to find somebody’s cousin’s brother’s nephew who can give me something. I like to kind of know where my stuff comes from also. You know, inside or outside of pregnancy.”
Widespread marketing and advertising	“When I see the billboards, it just makes me, like, miss it….I’d literally drive by it every day. And, you know, that was my go-to on the way home. It was just, like, a stop. Or I see the advertisements for Eaze [cannabis delivery service] on the billboard…it makes me miss it, because I’m definitely not doing it as frequently as I was before. And then you get the text messages, or they’re having this [sale]…it’s kind of hard to see. It’s like trying to stay away from something, but then it’s kind of, like, just in your face a little bit.”
	“So seeing them [billboards and advertisements] all the time, I’m like, ‘damn, I wish but, you know, not right now.’ So, but it’s definitely enticing. But I don’t think it would sway me either way if that makes sense.”
	“I get text messages from one of the dispensaries that I go to almost every day of, like, their deal of the day, and I always get pissed off. I’m always like, ‘screw you. You know I can’t [use cannabis during pregnancy].’”
Increased acceptance
Reduced stigma	“It’s legal. Like 5 years ago like if you smoked weed while pregnant, people would be looking at you like, ‘you’re crazy.’ Like, ‘what are you doing?’ They’re like, ‘who sold a pregnant person some weed?’ Now, it’s like you might see a group of pregnant people just passing the blunt around. Like, ‘okay,’ like, ‘y’all smoking, okay.’”
	“You can just go to the cannabis club now. Like pregnant or not, as long as you’ve got your ID, like, they’ll let you go. I feel like before I stopped, before I found I was pregnant, this girl was like 8 months, I said, ‘you’re going to buy weed?’ She was like, ‘yeah. It’s legal.’”
	“I think the stigma is slowly becoming… not as bad… in the state of California, it’s legalized, so I think that’s also a part of it. I think because people are more willing to talk about it and be open about it… it makes me feel good when I hear there are other people that, you know, still are using while they’re pregnant.”
More discussions with health care providers	“[In my first pregnancy, before cannabis was legal], I was like ‘oh, yeah I smoke, but I don’t even really smoke that much,’ but really and truly, I probably was smokin’ every day, you know? So, but now, I just told my doctor, like, ‘yeah, I smoked a joint, like, last week because I was feeling anxious, whatever, and they allowed more understanding, where like before, if I tell ‘em, then they gon’ look down on me and I’m gon’ feel bad about it, and, like, I don’t feel bad about it now.’”
	“I think that if it wasn’t legal and I didn’t feel comfortable speaking about it in the beginning with my doctor… I may still be smoking because if I didn’t say anything and didn’t have those conversations with my doctor, I probably would have just kept doing it.”
	“Whereas if you’re honest about it, the doctor is going to be like, ‘okay, she’s been honest with me this entire pregnancy. I know this is what she has chosen for this and this and this.’ You know what I mean? Even if they chose it for recreational uses, I think that they are understanding about it, they know that it’s recreationally legal, so why put down a mother for choosing what goes in her and her own child’s body?”
Mixed concerns about Child Protective Services (CPS)	“I’ve heard people say, you know, if they find marijuana in your blood when you’re having your baby, that they’re gonna take your baby from you at the hospital and make you go through CPS and stuff like that, and that was kind of a concern. Not so much now for me, because of the world we live in and the fact that we live in California, but at some point before 2020, it was definitely a concern of them testing you for marijuana, then taking your baby.”
	“I definitely think that the legalization of it, you know, definitely takes away a lot of the stigma for women and the fear of getting your child taken away.”
	“[To my physicians], I’m like, you know, ‘I’m still using cannabis. Is CPS going to be called?’ They’re like, ‘absolutely not. CPS will not be called unless you’re using, like, heroin.…And so it’s definitely, absolutely, 110% due to it being legalized.”
	“What pushes women to be secretive about it’s all been documented in your medical records, and to have somebody be like, ‘well, you were smoking throughout your pregnancy,” and for them to feel like you’re putting your child at risk and especially in the environment that we’re in now, to where we see these people taking people’s kids away for whatever reason through social services and stuff like that.”
	“I actually had a friend who has a CPS case out on her because she had tested positive for weed when she gave birth. So, that’s definitely a worry because some people are so against it. I don’t know if that’s in every case if that would happen. It’s kind of scary, you know?”
Trust in cannabis retailers
Trust in cannabis product safety	“I got a 17-year-old, so I smoked when I was pregnant with her, and it’s probably a better quality of weed that I’m smoking than I was when I was smoking with her because then, I was buying from the streets.”
	“I was getting it from a dispensary just because I liked knowing that it was tested and where it was coming from. But I know people that get it off the streets just to get it a little bit cheaper. But I would hope that they, if they were going to use it during pregnancy, that they would get it from a known source just because of pesticides and how it’s grown and that kind of stuff.”
Diverse product selection	“I’m all about the investment that we have now where we have percentages, and we know more about our THC. So, I like choosing certain amounts of things. I definitely prefer my indica over sativa [cannabis type] because sativa gives me more anxiety.”
	“But I would probably prefer dispensaries, just because they have things that are grown specifically for certain things that are going on with you [during pregnancy], whether it be sleep or anxiety or, you know, appetite, or inflammation, or anything like that.”
	“The cannabis clubs come with different products of getting you high to where you’re not having to just smoke. If you’re not somebody who likes to smoke, you can go get drops that can you put into your tea and then you can still get the different side effects.”
Cannabis retailer staff as knowledgeable	“And a lot of the—those people [budtenders], they, they’re aware of what cannabis does for you at the dispensary, so if you walk in there pregnant like they’re going to be like, ‘Well, this is what’s best for you.’ They’re not gonna be like, ‘oh, you shouldn’t do it.’ They’ll actually show you what would be best for you at your—during your pregnancy, depending on your symptoms.”
	“I like the fact that, like, if I use something and then I don’t like it or whatever my experience, I could just go and talk to them and say, ‘okay, well, this is what this was, and this is what I don’t like,’ and they say ‘okay, well, here’s something new.’ You know like we go to a dealer on the street and they, they just got whatever, so it’s like, I don’t know. I feel more comfortable speaking to somebody that’s, like, I don’t know if they expert on weed but I know they know a lot more about the different strands than people do on the street.”
	“If you can find educational dispensaries, then those people know what they’re talking about, like they’re trained to be giving you that information because they are dealing with medicine. So, don’t just ask your friend on the street, ‘hey, do you think that’s a good idea?’ Ask somebody that is in the industry that has been in the industry or has been educated on the products that they’re talking to you about.”
Cannabis retailer staff as caring and nonjudgmental	“I personally feel like when you go to the dispensary, they actually care about you. When you go to the street, they’re not really worried about you feeling better. They’re more worried about the money…”
	“Yeah. It’s like not being able to go to your, like, regular grocery store anymore. Like, ‘oh, I miss having those conversations with those people that I saw on a regular basis.’ Or, like, a restaurant, I guess. Kind of like a restaurant.”
	“I have been going to the same dispensary for a while now. I told them I was pregnant because I was excited and they were all, I didn’t feel judgment from any of them….I don’t really have an issue going into a dispensary, but it’s the same one, so they know me. It’s like a bar for me, you know, if I drink. They all know me and my name.”

Abbreviations: CPS, Child Protective Services, THC, tetrahydrocannabinol.