NYC lawmakers to ease off parents who use cannabis

New York City Council has signalled its intention to relax marijuana laws by pushing through a raft of new legislation focused around cannabis.

The authority gave the green light to two resolutions last week as part of a package of related changes to local legislation in anticipation of a global sea change in attitude toward cannabis.

More >> NYC lawmakers to ease off parents who use cannabis

Families torn apart over pot: As N.Y. moves to legalize marijuana, it must fix agonizing disparities that take children away from black and brown mothers and fathers

I have two folders on my desk. One has articles with titles like “Pot-smoking Mamas” and “Pot for Parents,” espousing the use of marijuana by parents. These commentaries — all by parents from well-heeled backgrounds — share a carefree tone, portraying marijuana use as an upscale diversion that relieves stress, is healthier than drinking, and leads to patience and creative parenting.

The other folder — a thicker one — is full of petitions against parents in the Bronx charging them with child neglect, wholly or in part, for their past and present marijuana use. These petitions are all against black and brown parents who are low-income and who live with the terrifying risk of losing their children — for the same marijuana use that the other more well-to-do parents blithely extol.

More >> Families torn apart over pot: As N.Y. moves to legalize marijuana, it must fix agonizing disparities that take children away from black and brown mothers and fathers

City Council Asks Why NYC Is 'Tearing Families Apart' For Marijuana Use

As New York considers legalizing marijuana, attention is also turning to how the drug plays a role in the city’s child welfare system—one that has the power to remove children from their parents and that investigates, almost exclusively, low-income families of color.

More >> City Council Asks Why NYC Is 'Tearing Families Apart' For Marijuana Use

Text of Marijuana Notice Posted at Springfield YMCA

Please be advised there have been several complaints about parents, guardians and other adults smelling of marijuana entering and leaving our YMCA facilities (the downtown facility as well as afterschool locations).

Staff at the YMCA of Greater Springfield have smelled some of you out and have been instructed to document instances of anyone suspected of being under the influence.

More >> Text of Marijuana Notice Posted at Springfield YMCA

No change to how Child Protective Services handles parent marijuana use

While recreational marijuana is now legal in Michigan, many legal questions still surround it, like how its use will be viewed by Child Protection Services.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Service Public Information Officer Bob Wheaton said the new law doesn't change how CPS will handle marijuana use by parents.

More >> No change to how Child Protective Services handles parent marijuana use

Can Parents Lose Custody Over Legal Marijuana Use? Absolutely.

Scientific research confirms that most people who smoke marijuana before they have kids still occasionally get high after they become parents, and anecdotal research confirms that THC can make pushing a stroller through the park chill as hell. It is also a relatively safe stimulant in that if parents don’t hide it effectively — it’s really not that hard, get a kid-proof container — marijuana poses no serious medical risk to children.

But for parents in the throesw of a divorce, moderate, responsible, and even legal pot use represents a very real hazard. Despite shifting cultural and legal norms, marijuana consumption can and does come up in custody negotiations.

More >> Can Parents Lose Custody Over Legal Marijuana Use? Absolutely.

'Helpless': The only treatment for their baby's epileptic seizures was illegal

What would you do if your child had a serious illness and the only treatment that would stop her pain was illegal?

Two-year-old Jaelah Jerger has epilepsy, and as a baby her tiny body was wracked with up to 30 seizures a day. Her parents tried a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but it didn't work.

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The Jergers decided to try a remedy they'd learned about on the internet, an extract from the cannabis plant called cannabidiol, or CBD. Advocates of the oil say it can help with schizophrenia, anxiety, cancer — and epilepsy.

More >> 'Helpless': The only treatment for their baby's epileptic seizures was illegal

BTW, Happy 4/20!!!

Jenelle Evans Reveals She Used Drugs While Pregnant, But People Are Furious With How CPS Responded

People should learn to mind their own business.

“Teen Mom 2” star and mother of three Jenelle Eason has landed in hot water once again.

From safety concerns to custody battles, the reality star has repeatedly found herself under the social media spotlight for her parenting decisions.

More >> Jenelle Evans Reveals She Used Drugs While Pregnant, But People Are Furious With How CPS Responded

Though the “Teen Mom 2” star didn't go into specifics, many fans seem to feel that CPS didn't do enough following the incident. One Twitter user wrote: 

Something isn’t right. Tests for weed, CPS says no problem? 

Another commenter wrote that “child protective services should take them all” after her recent admission.

Family sues CPS workers who investigated after parents gave toddler CBD oil for seizures

The parents of a two-year-old girl are suing the Department of Child Services case workers who they said threatened to take away their child after they gave her cannabidiol oil to treat her epilepsy.

Lelah Jerger, the child's mother, said Child Protective Services arrived at the Jergers' house in Huntingburg in September, after personnel at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health reported her when she and her husband used CBD oil to treat their daughter Jaelah, rather than Keppra, a prescribed medication.

More >> Family sues CPS workers who investigated after parents gave toddler CBD oil for seizures

North Texas Mom Who Received 5 Felonies for Breastfeeding Child on Pot Convicted of Theft

A year has passed since the Dallas Observer first reported that a 32-year-old mother of five faced felony child endangerment charges for testing positive for marijuana use while breastfeeding. She said she'd been using cannabis to control her epileptic seizures because she could no longer afford her prescription drugs.

Five months later, Erica Tucker, a Bible teacher and president of the nonprofit Fort Worth Babywearers, pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal to five counts of child endangerment — one count of the felony charge for each of her children. She received five years probation, 120 hours of community service and a $250 fine (not including court costs). Each count of the charge potentially carried a fine of up to $20,000 and two to 20 years in prison. Her husband, Greg, was also convicted.

More >> North Texas Mom Who Received 5 Felonies for Breastfeeding Child on Pot Convicted of Theft

Arizona Agency Defies DEA, Okays Cannabis Extracts for Foster Parents

A new rule on foster parenting released by the Arizona Department of Child Safety still discriminates against cannabis patients, yet defies federal authorities in approving cannabis extracts.

The rule codifies a September decision about a possible foster-care license for a woman who treats her adopted 12-year-old son's self-injuring behavior with cannabidiol (CBD).  Phoenix New Times received a copy of the ruling last week after a public-records request.

More >> Arizona Agency Defies DEA, Okays Cannabis Extracts for Foster Parents

CBD oil reduced toddler’s seizures. Still, state threatened to take away child, mother says

The parents of a 20-month-old girl say Indiana child welfare authorities threatened to take the child away from them because they chose to treat her epilepsy with a legal cannabis extract.

More >> CBD oil reduced toddler’s seizures. Still, state threatened to take away child, mother says

Juggalo's, London Bombers and Child Protective Services - LK Report for 9/17/17

Here are today's headlines.  

Check back later.  You never know when I might update this post.

http://www.LegallyKidnapped.com

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The broken-hearted stood up to give witness in Clinton, Iowa on October 8, 2016. After campaigning political candidates finished, families took the microphone. A soft-spoken, middle-aged woman went first.

More >> The 95% Failure Rate of Foster Care in America

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Young Indian couples travelling to the United States on short to mid-term job assignments are increasingly facing the menace of child confiscation by the country’s child protection agencies, who wrongly accuse them of abuse. The “child abuse” is determined using the controversial Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) indicator, the veracity of which is contested.

More >> Unfeeling U.S. agencies confiscate children from Indian parents

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The report noted that only four states — Arizona, California, Pennsylvania and Utah — considered Juggalos to be a gang and later versions of the Gang Threat Assessment dropped any mention of them altogether. But Juggalo nation has been in a legal battle to clear their members' names ever since, saying people have lost jobs, been harassed by police and even been impacted in child custody battles because of the label.

More >> Thousands of Juggalos expected to march on Washington on Saturday

Other Juggalos (and Juggalettes, as their female members are known) told stories of losing jobs, of being stopped by police, of being threatened with having their children taken away, all because of their musical preferences and face-painting.


More >> Juggalos in Washington: Don't call us a gang

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LANSING, MI - The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services could not take gun ownership into account when placing foster and adoptive children under a bill introduced by Rep. Holly Hughes, R-Montague.

More >> Foster parents would keep gun rights under new bill

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A TEEN suspected of being the Parsons Green bucket bomber is thought to be a refugee fostered by an elderly couple who were honoured by the Queen.

The 18-year-old - the youngest to be arrested over a terror attack in the UK - is being quizzed by cops after he was seized in Dover on Saturday.

More >> FOSTER KID 'IS BUCKET BOMBER’Parsons Green terror suspect, 18, revealed as ‘refugee taken in by MBE foster couple’ – as neighbours claim ‘problematic’ teen was arrested TWO WEEKS ago

• Teenager held over Parsons Green bomb was arrested in Dover port departure area
• Terror raids across London finger foster parents
• Claim: Surrey Terror Raid Home ‘Owned by Couple Who Foster Child Refugees’
• London subway attack: Second suspect in custody, police say

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A new poll by a children’s charity has revealed over 85% of UK adults surveyed show little or no interest in fostering, raising concerns over the future of foster care in the UK.

More >> Shocking survey reveals 'true scale' of foster care crisis

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The 5-year-old daughter of a Coal Township couple was allegedly beaten and bruised while in a Snyder County foster home.

Mary Ruiz said her seven children between the ages of 2 and 17 were removed from their home in April amid allegations she and her husband, Charlly, were using drugs. She said they still don't have custody of their children because Northumberland County Children and Youth officials say they remain "non-compliant."

More >> Mother: Child was beaten in foster care

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CHEYENNE – A local man was sentenced Thursday to at least 18 years in prison for sexually abusing a teenage foster child.

More >> Cheyenne man sentenced to prison for sexually abusing foster child

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A top state administrator is considering a change that would have state employees conduct the screening for prospective foster parents rather than out-source that work.

More >> DHS director reviewing screening process for foster care parents

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MINT HILL, N.C. - Frustrated neighbors are fed up with fights, violent outbursts and daily calls to police about a group home for children.

Mint Hill town leaders are researching what it would take to close it down if things don't change.

More >> Neighbors say group home for children is out of control

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The Arizona Department of Child Services recently updated its policy to clarify that the agency will not issue foster-care licenses to anyone who uses or possesses cannabis, even if legal under the state's medical marijuana laws. This decision is based on an anti-marijuana policy that the agency adopted in 2011, DCS spokesman Darren DaRonco said. DaRonco specified that DCS will not exclude potential foster parents that have been issued medical marijuana cards, but only those that actually use medical cannabis.

More >> Arizona Child Services Prohibits Medical Marijuana Users From Becoming Foster Parents

No Foster Kids 4 U - LK Report for 9/14/17

Here are today's headlines.  

Check back later.  You never know when I might update this post.

http://www.LegallyKidnapped.com

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The Pennsylvania auditor general says the state’s child welfare system is broken.

Eugene DePasquale released a special report Thursday that took aim at the system by the numbers.

“What I found for my ‘State of the Child’ special report is appalling,” DePasquale said. “I’m talking about wholesale system breakdowns that actually prevent (Children and Youth Services) caseworkers from protecting our children from abuse and neglect.”

More >> Auditor general calls ‘State of the Child’ in Pennsylvania ‘appalling’

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The state DCS rejected her after she admitted she was a registered caregiver under the state's medical-marijuana law and kept a product in her home that contained cannabidol (CBD), a non-psychoactive compound that's found in cannabis.

Yet the product, along with all other forms of cannabis, is perfectly legal for qualified users and caregivers under the state's voter-approved, 2010 medical-marijuana law.

More >> Arizona DCS to Medical-Marijuana Patients: We Don't Want You as a Foster Parent

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A south Arkansas mother whose 3-year-old drowned in a washing machine should not have had to surrender her newborn to the state months after an accident based on her "mindset," the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

More >> Arkansas judges overturn neglect case involving mother whose 3-year-old drowned in washing machine

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MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Milwaukee city planners are pushing forward with an idea to use tiny homes to help teens aging out of foster care.

More >> Milwaukee advances tiny house plan for foster care teenagers

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Hoping to combat the high cost of incarceration and break the cycle of children following their parents to prison, some cities have created programs to keep women out of jail and with their children.

More >> Breaking The Cycle Of Incarceration By Keeping Mothers And Children Together

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – When kids have no place to go, families across the state open up their homes. However, as KRQE News discovered on Special Assignment, the need outweighs what’s actually available.

More >> Growing number of New Mexico foster families house more than six kids

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It looks like Teen Mom 2 star Jenelle Evans just can’t escape the custody battles these days. Since it was alleged that the reality star and her newborn daughter Ensley tested positive for marijuana, a new report has surfaced saying that Jenelle’s mother Barbara Evans has banned her daughter from seeing Jace, whom she has custody of.

More >> Barbara Evans Is Banning Jenelle Evans From Seeing Jace Following CPS Investigation\

Note: Usually it would be CPS that makes that decision.  In this case, grandma is playing God.

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The foster brother who allegedly had a sexual relationship with slain Logan schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer is set to be sentenced at a Queensland court.

Trent Thorburn, 20, is due to face the Beenleigh District Court on Thursday on charges of perjury, attempting to pervert the course of justice and incest.

More >> Tiah's foster brother to be sentenced

• Tiahleigh's foster brother sentenced
• Tiahleigh Palmer: foster brother sentenced to four years, including for incest

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Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced his resignation Tuesday. It comes after a man purporting to be Murray's cousin stepped forward claiming Murray sexually abused him in the mid-1970s when he was a boy.

More >> Seattle Mayor Ed Murray resigns following new sex abuse allegation

• These are the 5 men who have accused Seattle Mayor Ed Murray of child sexual abuse
• Timeline of child sex-abuse allegations against Mayor Murray
• Bombarded by Sex Abuse Claims, Seattle Mayor Now Accused by His Own Cousin
• With Ed Murray mess behind us, time to focus on child abuse
• Ed Murray: Sex abuse claim US mayor's time in Northern Ireland 'should be probed'

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Widlene Earle has never been to Canada, but she calls the country home and holds it in high regard because of its warm welcomes, cold snow and its eternal connection to Justin Bieber.

More >> Haitian daughter at risk as adoption process drags on, Newfoundland dad says

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(NEWSER) – A Maryland couple whose YouTube prank videos garnered them accusations of child abuse were sentenced to five years probation on child neglect charges Monday, BuzzFeed reports. Michael and Heather Martin entered a plea to avoid jail time, admitting the state had enough to convict them without actually admitting guilt. The Martins' YouTube channel, DaddyOFive, featured hundreds of videos of them "pranking" their five children, according to the Frederick News-Post. Prosecutors singled out one video showing Heather screaming obscenities at a crying 10-year-old Cody—their youngest child—after falsely accusing him of pouring ink on the carpet and another video where Cody is falsely told he is no longer going to live with them.

More >> Parents Sentenced for Child Neglect Over YouTube Videos

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In February 2015, Rebecca Wanosik took her then nine-week-old daughter Zeydn to the pediatrician. She was looking for answers for Zeydn’s seemingly inexplicable right arm pain. Instead, that one visit would end up turning her life upside down.

More >> MOM FIGHTS BACK AFTER BABY’S RARE GENETIC CONDITION WAS MISTAKEN FOR CHILD ABUSE
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Prosecutors said there was no evidence of crimes being committed at an orphanage where at least 400 children are thought to have been buried in an unmarked mass grave.

More >> 'No crime' over orphanage mass grave
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A growing number of parents say their children have been unfairly taken from them and adopted, lawyers and campaigners said today.

There are more than 100 cases where children have been adopted without sufficient evidence they are at risk from their birth parents, according to the BBC.

More >> Outcry from social workers over forced adoptions

Judge Tosses Lawsuit By Kansas Marijuana Activist Who Lost Custody Of Her Son

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by a Garden City, Kansas, mother who lost custody of her son over her use of cannabis oil in an incident that drew national attention.

More >> Judge Tosses Lawsuit By Kansas Marijuana Activist Who Lost Custody Of Her Son

Man With Marijuana License Loses Child Custody Case After Felony Pot Bust

Do politics influence pot prosecution in Michigan? Pat LaLama reports.

More >> Man With Marijuana License Loses Child Custody Case After Felony Pot Bust

Marijuana use not grounds for termination of parental rights

Recent Case: Marijuana use under the level of chemical dependency not grounds for termination of parental rights

Father appeals from the judgment terminating his parental rights. Grounds for termination of parental rights require clear and convincing evidence, so Court of Appeals examines evidence contrary to judgment.  Grounds include abuse or neglect and failure to rectify.  In this case there was not substantial evidence to support the trial court’s finding that Father’s marijuana use constituted a “chemical dependency” as defined in Section 211.447.5(2)(b) or Section 211.447.5(3)(d). Therefore, that condition cannot support termination on grounds of either abuse and neglect or failure to rectify.

More >> Marijuana use not grounds for termination of parental rights

Egan: Mom battles to give daughter medical cannabis, fends off police, CAS

Motivated by love and desperation, an area mother is fighting an uphill battle to treat her daughter’s chronic illness with a special cannabis oil.

More >> Egan: Mom battles to give daughter medical cannabis, fends off police, CAS

Medical marijuana patients reunited with son after lengthy court battles, unfounded drug charges

After 18 months, a Spring Lake family's son is out of foster care and reunited with his parents.  Yet the fight to be together, through court battles and serious drug charges despite being card-carrying medical marijuana patients, still haunts them.

More >> Medical marijuana patients reunited with son after lengthy court battles, unfounded drug charges

Garden City marijuana advocate files lawsuit against the state, petitioning to get her son back

A Garden City mother is suing state leaders over the loss of her son, after he told his class she was a marijuana user.

More >> Garden City marijuana advocate files lawsuit against the state, petitioning to get her son back