Oklahoma resident Amanda Aguilar was arrested after using marijuana while pregnant. Though Aguilar had a medical marijuana prescription, prosecutors reasoned that her fetus did not. They charged the mother of five with child neglect, a felony.
Now, the state’s highest criminal court says prosecutors had no basis to do that.
The ruling should be good news for women who use marijuana to help with morning sickness and other pregnancy ailments. But the opinions in this case make clear that some Oklahoma judges would like to see pregnant marijuana users criminalized.
“The baby has no medical marijuana license,” wrote Judge Gary L. Lumpkin in a dissenting opinion.
Even Judge Scott Rowland, who wrote the majority’s opinion, stressed that the court does not “condone marijuana use by an expectant mother” and urged Oklahoma lawmakers “to consider an addition to the law making clear when, if ever, the licensed use of marijuana may constitute child neglect.”
Hellbound and Down 