Two district attorneys have targeted mothers with child neglect felonies.
From The Marshall Project: “The prosecutions involving medical marijuana are “inconsistent with state law,” said Ryan Kiesel, a civil rights attorney and former Oklahoma lawmaker who worked on litigation on behalf of the 2018 campaign to legalize medical marijuana in the state.”
“Those women are protected as medical marijuana patients under the law,” Kiesel said. “It’s important to remember, if you have a medical marijuana license, you are under the care of a physician.”
“The threat of criminal prosecution in Oklahoma has made it harder to gain pregnant patients’ trust and to provide treatment, said Dr. Stephanie Pierce, who runs a clinic for pregnant women with substance-use disorders at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Instead of acting as a deterrent for drug use, she added, fear of arrest can keep women from seeking prenatal care.”
