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Mom challenges CAS
Dana Borcea | The Hamilton Spectator | May 15, 2006

An Oakville mother of four who admits to smoking marijuana regularly is challenging a request by the Children's Aid Society of Halton to undergo a drug test.

While the 39-year-old single mother, who wishes to be identified only as Joey, insists pot smoking does nothing to harm her children's quality of life, she remains uncertain about how a decision to reject the voluntary test will affect her rights as a mother.

Joey, who says she smokes up to help manage severe arthritis pain and anxiety, turned to Hamilton pot legalization activist Chris Goodwin for advice after a caseworker visited her home early last week.

Goodwin, who owns the controversial Up In Smoke marijuana cafe on King Street East, was investigated by the Children's Aid Society of Hamilton last fall. A Hamilton caseworker visited Goodwin and his wife's home several times to determine whether their daily pot consumption was harming their infant son.

The investigation, sparked by a report filed by a Hamilton police constable, was closed after it was determined the child was not at risk. During the investigation, Goodwin was asked to take a voluntary drug test. He refused and advised Joey to do the same. "I didn't have anything to hide but I also have a right to privacy," he said Saturday.

"(CAS) has an onus to prove risk of harm before I give (them) access to my body."

Goodwin said he appreciates the work the CAS does in removing children from abusive homes, but feels its focus on recreational and medicinal pot users is misguided. "I promote responsible use of marijuana," he added. "I'm never impaired in front of my son. We're very responsible."

Joey said she readily admitted to the Halton caseworker that she smokes marijuana regularly, but insisted she doesn't do so in front of her children.

An on-call Halton CAS supervisor contacted this weekend declined to comment on that agency's policies around parental pot use. A spokesperson for the Children's Aid Society of Hamilton said more sophisticated drug testing technology has led to more tests by Ontario child protection agencies. Ingrid Hauth, director of ongoing protection services at Hamilton CAS, said it's aware of the "difference between substance use and substance abuse," but drug use has proven to play a significant role in many cases involving child abuse and neglect.

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dedbr

are they going to start following around everybody that drinks and smokes cigarettes?

Make them tinkle in a cup?


What about the people that take presciption drugs? Do they count too?


Maybe I should shut up. Don't want to give the idjits no new ideas.....


Somewhere in Ded Land......

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reggie_the_dog

""I promote responsible use of marijuana," he added. "I'm never impaired in front of my son. We're very responsible.""

I respect this guys right to raise his children as he and their mother see fit, but his statement implies that it would be irresponsible to be impaired in front of the kids.

Is it irrresponsible to smoke a joint in front of your children, so long as you are outside and they are not down wind of you?

Is it irresponsible to vaporize in your room while the kids are cleaning up for dinner and then meeting them in the kitchen?

Granted my wife does not smoke so we would not need a stoned person to drive in case of an emergency with one of the kids, (from what I understand driving while stoned doubles the risk of being in a deadly accident, while the legal level of alcholol quadruples the risk, but x2 is greater than x after all,)

I never drink alcohol, but I dont think that my wife drinking some wine at a dinner with friends or family is irresponsible (i dont drink, so I can drive if she drinks).

To me making the kids breath second hand smoke, when they dont realize that it is bad for their health, is irresponsible so my limit is at smoking in closed quarters with the kiddies around.

just my 2 cents

Deadlifta

Very well said.

Toking Jedi

Reggie, I think your 2 cents raises a very good point, for the sake of rhetoric. What about tobacco users who smoke cigars and their pipes in front of their kids, and even let second hand smoke hang in the air while their kids are around? Does no one question the child care abilities of tobacco users? I certainly don't question their major skills, but as far as stress and health management goes, I question their role modeling.

And yet, I don't.

The reason I don't question their parenting skills for their use of tobacco is because I don't think we should see drug use as a cause for concern. It's the way the person approaches their drug use that is the issue. If they can continue to be responsible adults, that's great, and I encourage them in that endeavor. However, if they are using the drug or drugs to drown out their sorrows and not giving a damn about anything else in their lives, then we have ourselves a problem.

Marijuana doesn't cause parental problems. Law enforcement does.

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TheNewGuy

I don't agree with that from personal experience (and the experiences of others I know), and I've read studies that actually show MJ use to decrease the chance of getting in an accident (just search norml, its there). But anyways, I'd still commend anyone who doesn't ever drive while stoned just because it isn't necessary to do so. Might as well drive in the same sober condition all the time for the sake of predictability.

I just wanted to say this: Whats the difference bettween smoking a joint right in front of your kids and drinking a beer in front of them? Easy. Alcohol is more dangerous, therefore its worse to drink a beer in front of your children. But you know what, millions of parents (including my own) have consumed alcohol in front of thier kids without giving a damn. I know I didn't go on to become an alcoholic because of it. I saw them having one or two beers and calling it quits, so I followed the same example (for the most part at least). Like Reggie said, we shouldn't be putting blanket statments on parent drug use. It isn't what they're using, its how responsibly they're using it, and what kind of example they're setting for the kid that matters. But everyone here already knows that so I'm just preaching to the choir.

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"Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power." ~P.J. O'Rourke

Buzzby

Easy. Possession of marijuana is against the law.

As an adult, I can understand that some laws are foolish and I can decide to violate them without harming anyone. Children are different. Their world is more Black & White. If it's OK to break the law by smoking pot, why isn't it OK to break the law by clobbering someone and stealing their money? A person needs to be fully indoctrinated into his culture before making an individual choice to break some of its rules.

Breaking the law in front of your children puts a tremendous burden on them. They are still at the stage of absolute morality: something is either Right or it's Wrong. They get D.A.R.E. in school telling them that drugs are evil. They're told that they should turn in drug users to save them from their destructive habits. Should they turn in their parents and lose them or allow their parents to descend into the inevitable horrible death that is the end of "drug abuse"? Children should not be put into the position of having to make those kinds of decisions.

Another aspect is that children are horrible at keeping secrets. They might not turn you in to the police or their teachers, but they'll almost surely share their secrets with their friends. The end result could easily be that their friends rat you out or they tell their parents and they rat you out.

Finally, you don't want to give your kids that kind of leverage over you. Children are quite capable of blackmail. If they don't get what they want, many would not hesitate to threaten you with arrest in order to get it.

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Nambus

Well it seems like big brother is doing all he can to limit our anonymity.
Now its going to factor into parenting children whether your caught off guard or just legitmately did something a lil rediculous and got caught whether this toking mother wants to admitt it or not you are responsible for your childrens health. Why would she even dream of posting all these details about herself when all they have to go on is something written on a public website yet she is not properly used to being watched by big brother but im afraid if you toke no matter what age or what place there is a risk and thats what we all live by.

TheNewGuy

Buzz, I didn't really mean it like that...I meant morally speaking. Like, disregarding the fact that its currently illegal, what is the difference? Most people have a beer in front of their kids, so besides the being illegal thing, how is weed any different? Most people have a knee-jerk "Oh my God, that parent does DRUGS??!!!??" reaction for weed, but a beer wouldn't be looked at any different than the parent drinking a coca-cola. But I guess until its legal my argument doesn't really matter...

KWhite

"Their world is more Black & White. If it's OK to break the law by smoking pot, why isn't it OK to break the law by clobbering someone and stealing their money?"

This is where the word parenting gets it's teeth.

I have smoked in front of my children since they were born.

None of them steal. It was my duty, one I go after zealously, to inform my children.

It is not difficult, with explanation and example, to show children that theft, murder, graft, fraud are bad and why the laws against those things are in order.

At the same time, one shows them that some laws are not in order, and encourages them to think for themselves. This takes time, discussion and a willingness to DO YOUR JOB as a parent. Children are not stupid, and one must remember the wordsof dear old dad- "I'm not raising children, I'm raising potential adults!" And they, those potential adults, need a parents help to learn to be critical and balanced when they get there.

What you say, Buzzby, sounds like a cop out.

However, that could be a misinterpretation on my part.

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