ASA in the News

David Downs, East Bay Express

If you're a medical marijuana patient, and you are in the middle of a nasty divorce, and you live in a cultural backwater like Michigan or inland California - beware. Government workers will seize your kids over your lawful medical cannabis use, and it'll be a long fight to get them back.

Lawyers.com relates the latest in a long string of such incidents:

"Michigan’s Children’s Protective Services took 6-month-old Brielle “Bree” Green from her parents because her mother is a medical marijuana caregiver, ...

"The ordeal began when Maria’s ex-husband, with whom she shares custody of another child, filed a complaint with CPS alleging that the Green’s home is unfit for children. Maria maintains a locked marijuana cultivation room in her home, which state law allows.

"After CPS took Bree from the home, the Greens met with Ingham County Family Court Referee Rod Porter, who upheld the removal. According to Michigan Marijuana News, Porter said it was dangerous for children to be in the home because the cannabis could attract armed robbers. "We have homes being robbed at gunpoint — by individuals who know that children are at home," Porter said.

Kris Hermes, spokesperson for the medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, told Lawyers.com that Porter’s reasoning is “outrageous.”

“By the same logic, the state should take away the children of parents who reside in high crime areas because they might be put in danger from criminal elements,” Hermes said. “That rationale is obviously absurd and medical marijuana patients should not be treated any differently than other parents susceptible to burglary.”

“The state of Michigan appears to be stooping to an all-time low in an effort to remove children from their home and loving parents.”

According to the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, “a person shall not be denied custody or visitation of a minor for acting in accordance with this act, unless the person’s behavior is such that it creates an unreasonable danger to the minor that can be clearly articulated and substantiated.”

According to Americans for Safe Access, some CPS workers, attorneys, and judges are biased against medical marijuana patients. As such, parents need to lock up any medical marijuana and growing areas, avoid using marijuana around their children or several hours prior. If CPS shows up, call an attorney, ... and maybe some reporters.

Now, excuse us, we're going to run down to the liquor store where the owners' toddler grandchild has the run of the place. Sure, there's deadly liquor, cigarettes, junk food, and the ever-present threat of armed robbery, but it's what our culture has deemed acceptable.