The Court of Criminal Appeals in Oklahoma recently made a ruling that women who hold state medical cards and use cannabis during pregnancy cannot be charged with child neglect. This ruling marks an important victory for Amanda Aguilar, who has been waiting almost four years for this outcome.
In 2020, Aguilar was charged with felony child neglect in Kay County following her newborn son’s positive test results for cannabis at birth. This legal dispute has created significant stress for the single parent of five children and limited her employment options.
After learning of the court’s ruling, Aguilar said, “I might have given up if it were about something else, but since it was related to my children, I knew I had to keep fighting.”
Aguilar’s story was first highlighted in the Frontier and the Marshall Project in 2022. During her pregnancy, she used medical cannabis to alleviate severe morning sickness, and she had a doctor’s authorization for its use. Despite her son being born healthy, the hospital reported her to child welfare officials, who then shared the baby’s drug test results with law enforcement.
The recent ruling establishes a new legal standard in the state, where an increasing number of women — even those with valid medical licenses — have been charged with child neglect for using cannabis when pregnant.
According to reports published earlier this year by the Frontier and the Marshall Project, many women who are charged in these types of instances frequently cannot afford to hire a private attorney. Therefore, rather than contesting the charges in court, the majority of them choose to accept plea agreements that result in probation.
The court’s decision made it apparent that although they do not support pregnant women using marijuana, Oklahoma nonetheless permits cannabis use. The court has also urged the state legislature to reevaluate the laws that are now in place regarding this matter, implying that new legislation may be required to address potential criminal charges against marijuana-using pregnant women.
Two judges, however, dissented from the decision, noting that Aguilar’s unborn child lacked a separate medicinal marijuana license. They argued that neither politicians nor voters intended for unborn children to be exposed to medical cannabis when they enacted legislation.
At least five cases similar to Aguilar’s have been dismissed by judges in Kay County in the last year on the grounds that the use of medical cannabis is legal in Oklahoma and that no crimes were committed. Brian Hermanson, the district attorney for Kay County, has filed child neglect charges against many women in the area for drug use during pregnancy, with many of the cases involving medical cannabis. He has filed an appeal in Aguilar’s case as well as one similar to it, arguing that the mothers broke the law by not having their unborn children’s medical cannabis permits.
As these issues are resolved by the courts of law, cannabis companies such as Green Thumb Industries Inc. (CSE: GTII) (OTCQX: GTBIF) will have more clarity regarding the regulatory nuances that exist within the different marijuana markets in the country.
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