Chocolate chip cookies and kids go together like chocolate chip cookies and milk. That’s true, unless the cookies are made with marijuana in them. In Colorado, such edible marijuana products are legal for medical purposes. The relatively new legality of such products, however, has reportedly led to an increased concern surrounding children safety.
A Denver source describes a recent case involving a 25-year old mother and her young son. The mother admits to having stored marijuana-containing cookies in her freezer. She never thought that her 2-year-old would climb up to the hiding place and find the zipped up, stored cookies. The unimaginable happened, and now the mother faces a child abuse charge related to the marijuana cookies.
According to reports, the woman is charged with misdemeanor child abuse after the March 19 incident. Her son apparently made his way to the freezer and ingested enough of the special cookies to become ill. When the mother took the boy to the hospital, his urine sample confirmed that he had THC in his system.
The boy didn’t suffer serious injuries as a result of the incident, but authorities claim that this incident isn’t an isolated case. Other kids have suffered more serious health problems after getting their hands on a marijuana product, which has supposedly become easier for kids now that the medical marijuana industry is legal in Colorado.
As a result of that reported trend, lawmakers have suggested outlawing marijuana edibles. That drastic measure didn’t get far. Instead, lawmakers now want to require that marijuana products are placed in child-proofed packaging.
Of course, child safety advocates also stress the importance of parents storing their drug products in places out of the reach of their kids. In the recent Denver case, it sounds like the mother did try to hide the cookies, but she shouldn’t have had them in the first place. She isn’t reported to have a prescription for medical marijuana. While she does face the child abuse charge, sources do not indicate whether she is charged with a drug crime.
Source
TheDenverChannel.com: “2 ½ -Year-Old’s Mother Charged With Child Abuse,” Alan Gathright, 28 Apr. 2011