The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has recently made essential decision, according to which pregnant women who consume medical marijuana and have a medically prescribed Oklahoma medical marijuana card cannot be charged with child neglect. This ruling is coming after a high profile case in Kay County where a pregnant woman was charged with a felony for marijuana use.
The court said that the substances that contain marijuana and are being used according to the legal permit of the doctor is legally a medicine like any other prescribed medicine. To elaborate Attorney Ed Blau said ‘Marijuana in the state of Oklahoma by statute is considered medicine just like any other medicine a doctor would recommend.
The case emerged when a judge released a woman from charges indicating that they have no sufficient evidence. This dismissal was later taken to the high court of the state’s criminal panel, where the case was affirmed, with the court pointing out that, while marijuana for medical use is legal, this in no way means child neglect.
Nevertheless, the ruling is limited only to medical marijuana and does not include various substances like methamphetamine or cocaine. However, the legal status of THC during pregnancy did not leave Joe Dorman, the CEO of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, indifferent about the consequences that might be elicited by the substance to a fetus, thus, he insisted that it should not be used during pregnancy.
The court has urged the legislature to revisit and possibly refine on the law in furtherment of the above concerns. At the same time, persons who got convicted of child neglect for using medical marijuana with a card may wish to appeal their cases.