Nothing perks me up quicker than an alarming marijuana headline on FOXNews.com’s website. Sure to be fair and balanced… like a scale at Tony Soprano’s place.
FOXNews.com – Nebraska Mom Taught 4-Year-Old Lesson in Marijuana, Police Say
OMAHA, Neb. — Police say a 4-year-old girl demonstrated to them how to smoke marijuana from a joint, a pipe and a bong — and learned the techniques from her mother.The mother, 25-year-old Lisa Schuchard, is charged with child abuse and could lose her daughter after being accused of teaching and encouraging the girl to smoke.
Her attorney, Douglas County Assistant Public Defender Doug Johnson, said he would not comment because he hadn’t talked to Schuchard in depth.
Authorities say Child Protective Services received a complaint that the 4-year-old and a 2-year-old son of Schuchard were dirty and living in a filthy home that had drug paraphernalia around.
Police say the daughter told officers that Schuchard and her live-in boyfriend would offer her and her brother the marijuana, then laugh with friends when they smoked. Authorities say the children have been placed in foster care.
Wow. That’s despicable. I get upset when people blow cannabis smoke in my pets’ face. It is absolutely reprehensible to force or allow any child to use marijuana (except under special medical circumstances and with doctor’s supervision; see Dr. Lester Grinspoon) ; not so much for the fear that it will cause great lasting physiological harm – marijuana is non-toxic – rather from the fact that a child has a tenuous grasp on reality as it is, the child shouldn’t be altering it in any way. Plus there’s the potential of accident, especially if we’re talking about little kids and fire.
But marijuana smoking by the kids isn’t the scariest thing I could imagine. The story didn’t mention any other drugs or alcohol that could really seriously harm the children. The story leads the reader to that portrayal of the cannabis user as evil, abusive, filthy, degenerate, irresponsible criminals and the demon weed as the slayer of youth. Hey, maybe these people are abusive and irresponsible, but it’s not the cannabis that made them that way. There’s something missing in this story.
Sure enough, I dig a little deeper in the Google and come up with the original source story in Omaha World-Herald:
According to police and court reports:
Someone called Child Protective Services to complain that Schuchard’s 4-year-old girl and 2-year-old boy were filthy dirty and that drug paraphernalia was strewn about Schuchard’s home near 34th and Hamilton Streets. The caller also complained that the kids were forced to sleep a lot — and that Schuchard and her live-in boyfriend, Christopher Gladden, were “always sleeping.”
On Feb. 12, Omaha police went to the home and found the children within reach of drug paraphernalia.
They also found a large bruise on the 4-year-old’s right cheek and several bruises on her buttocks and upper legs.
The girl told police that Gladden hit her repeatedly with a belt — and slammed a door in her face, causing the knob to bruise her cheek.
Why do you suppose FOXNews.com leaves out the little detail that the boyfriend was allegedly physically abusive to the kids? The story goes on to point out that the mom and the boyfriend were both charged with misdemeanor child abuse. The boyfriend pleaded guilty immediately and got six months in jail. The mom held out, then the little girl told the marijuana use stories, now she’s charged with felony child abuse, faces five years in prison, and loss of custody. The boyfriend’s charges can’t be raised to a felony, because he’s already pleaded guilty and that would constitute double jeopardy.
So for those of you keeping score, the man who beats the child gets six months, but the mom who makes the kid smoke pot gets five years. If you ask me, they got it backwards.
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