Angelfire, I'm hoping you're already in the process of letting yourself come clean and wanted to reassure you that you're not really going to be de-toxifying in the same way you would if you were coming off a narcotic drug with true physical addiction potential. You're simply letting cannabis metabolites clear from your system, which can happen safely by simply ceasing to use and waiting for your body to clear those metabolites, which takes time depending on how much cannabis you're accustomed to using.

I'm not expressing this hope because of your baby's potential danger, although I do think it's inadvisable, no matter what you're using cannabis for, to smoke during pregnancy, despite the fact that numerous people have done so without incident and will continue to do so. I'm expressing this hope because that law does seem to be on the books in Louisiana and I know you need to be clean in order not to risk losing your baby if you and the baby are drug-screened when you give birth. One of my cousins is a family attorney in north Louisiana and he said that statute is normally used to remove minor children when drug use is habitual and combined with a criminal drug history and more often when it involves substances that are much more dangerous than cannabis. Trust me on this. The entire obstetric and social services community in the uniquely substance-laden state of Louisiana (my native state, incidentally) are well aware that young mothers and babies sometimes test positive for cannabis. The thing you don't want to do is bring down any unnecessary scrutiny on yourself or invite any further examination of your circumstances because it sounds like you're also dealing with some other health issues that might make a social services agency question your fitness for parenting or at least cause them to believe you'd merit a closer evaluation.

I think Stinky's suggestion to talk to an attorney is a good one. If you call the nearest law school to you (LSU has a big law clinic) or the parish legal aid society in your area, you should be able to consult with one for free. You can also probably get some answers about how the social services professionals at the hospital or clinic where you plan to deliver might react by asking one of your friends or relatives to call that hospital's social work department and simply asking what their standard policy is for neonates (newborn babies) who test positive for cannabis. They should be able to provide a fairly clear answer, as could your parish's child protective services office.

Best of luck to you and your baby.
birdgirl73 Reviewed by birdgirl73 on . Please help! I'm 34 weeks pregnant with my second child. I found out that there is now a law in place stating that if you fail a prenatal drug screening (which I did of course) that when the baby is born it's first fecal matter will be tested and if the baby tests positive social services will be informed and become involved. I have quit smoking for about a week now. Now, my doctor told me that if I buy a home drug test and pass that my baby will not fail the test. My biggest concern is how I can safely Rating: 5