Mother charged with felony child neglect after taking Medical Marijuana while pregnant
Comanche County Woman Charged with Felony Child Neglect for Using Medical Marijuana During Pregnancy.
A Comanche County woman is being charged with felony child neglect after taking medical marijuana edibles during her pregnancy. The baby was born nearly seven months before the mother was charged.
In 2018, Oklahoma voters approved a state question allowing medicinal use of marijuana, but now some women who have used medical marijuana during their pregnancy are being charged with felony child neglect. One national organization is in counsel with a woman from Comanche County who is one of those being charged.
“Oklahoma has very clear law that you can have a license that’s like any other prescription that a doctor provides you with, so a doctor who knew that she was pregnant but knew she had the license, that was fine,” said Karen Thompson, Legal Director for Pregnancy Justice. “She was taking the marijuana to treat some of the hard core symptoms that were causing her distress. Her doctor was aware and she was doing everything fully compliant with Oklahoma law.”
Thompson said she doesn’t understand why women are being prosecuted for taking medical marijuana when it is completely legal in the state of Oklahoma.
“Doctors follow those laws, they follow what they need to do to make it legitimate and that’s exactly what happened here. The doctor had no issues with her taking the medical marijuana, the issue was only with the District Attorney,” Thompson said.
In this specific case the mother had her baby in October of 2020 and she was charged in May of 2021, nearly seven months later.
According to court documents at the time of birth, both the baby and the mother tested positive for marijuana.
Court documents go on to say the mother admitted to the Department of Human Services (DHS) that she had taken medical marijuana during her pregnancy and that she did have a medical marijuana card.
“Oklahoma Human Services takes very seriously our responsibility to protect the safety of Oklahoma’s children,” Oklahoma DHS said in a statement sent to 7news. “When assessing the safety of a child, Oklahoma Human Services attempts to understand if an individual’s use of a substance affects their ability to safely parent and protect their child, regardless of whether or not the substance they are using is legal.”
Oklahoma DHS did conduct an investigation into the mother’s home and determined it to be safe and loving.
We reached out to the District Attorney, but have not heard back.
Stick with 7News as we will continue to cover this court case coming up next month.
