Michigan Mom Charged With Child Abuse For Giving Sons Marijuana
CADILLAC, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - A Michigan mother faces child abuse and other charges after authorities say she gave her 10- and 12-year-old sons marijuana for medical reasons.
The 31-year-old woman from the small village of Mesick, in Wexford County, attended a pretrial conference Tuesday in 84th District Court in Cadillac.
She's charged with delivery/manufacture of marijuana and two counts of third-degree child abuse.
Wexford County Prosecutor Anthony Badovinac tells the Cadillac News that the woman gave marijuana to the 10-year-old boy to help with emotional issues and to the 12-year-old to treat attention deficit disorder.
Internal medicine Dr. Shawn Jayakar of St. John Hospital in Detroit says that's not a good idea.
"Actually, ADD is linked to the use of marijuana," Jayakar told WWJ Newsradio 950's Sandra McNeill. "So I definitely would not recommend anyone with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to use marijuana, as it can make it worse, make it more difficult to concentrate, and makes you prone to further abuse of other drugs."
Jayakar said giving children pot at such a young age can causing brain damage if accumulated over a lifetime.
Badovinac said the woman indicated she preferred the use of pot to prescribed pills and police became involved after the woman told a Child Protective Services worker that she gave her children marijuana.
The woman faces up to 4 years in prison on the drug charge and up 2 years in prison or 5 years of probation on the child abuse charge. The Associated Press isn't naming the woman to protect the identities of the children. The AP left a message seeking comment Wednesday from her lawyer.
Michigan voters approved marijuana use for some chronic medical conditions in 2008.
Under state guidelines, emotional issues and ADHD aren't qualifying conditions for medical marijuana use. Minors can get permission to use medical marijuana, but they must have a qualifying condition and meet other rules.
Elsewhere, in a similar case, a Minnesota mother has been charged with child endangerment for giving her 15-year-old son cannabis oil to manage the pain of a traumatic brain injury. A medical marijuana law there doesn't take effect until July.
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