Marijuana

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 7.30.2024 12:10 PM

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."

Aguilar isn't the only Oklahoma mother who has been charged for exposing a fetus to marijuana that she was using legally. According to the nonprofit Pregnancy Justice, "at least eight women have been charged under this theory since 2019."

Another Oklahoma mother, Brittany Gunsolus, is one such woman. After her son tested positive for marijuana at birth, she—like Aguilar—was charged with felony child neglect, despite the fact that she also had a medical marijuana prescription and that child welfare workers investigated and deemed her fit.

Gunsolus' lawyers argued that using prescription marijuana while pregnant should be treated just like taking any other prescription drug during pregnancy. But Comanche County prosecutors apparently disagreed. "At a court hearing in........

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