Drug testing on newborn babies.

[Gunner420]

I'm Gunner's girlfriend, I'm from Illinois, and I'm 29 weeks pregnant. I used marijuana up until 25 weeks, after several people told me they would test my baby without my consent and take him away if it came out positive. I've done A LOT of research on this, but haven't heard a straight answer yet. Some sources say they will only test the baby if the mother appears intoxicated or has tattoos or piercings, others say they can't legally test the baby without my consent, and some say they will regardless. I can't find a single source that gives me a difinitive answer. I even spoke to an attorney from NORML, and he didn't give me a very clear answer either. Everywhere mostly says to look up my state laws. The problem is that I don't know how to go about doing that, or what to even look for. So my question is, are there any mothers from Illinois who know whether or not they drug test your baby in Illinois? Or anyone who happens to know the laws?
If you're only giving your moral opinion, don't bother. I don't need to hear you bashing me for smoking pot while pregnant. I've done my research, and most of you who will have something negative to say haven't and have no idea what you're talking about. So keep your close-minded, brainwashed opinions to yourself and only answer if you have the information I'm asking for. Thanks.

Gunner420 Reviewed by Gunner420 on 04-20-2009. Drug testing on newborn babies. I'm Gunner's girlfriend, I'm from Illinois, and I'm 29 weeks pregnant. I used marijuana up until 25 weeks, after several people told me they would test my baby without my consent and take him away if it came out positive. I've done A LOT of research on this, but haven't heard a straight answer yet. Some sources say they will only test the baby if the mother appears intoxicated or has tattoos or piercings, others say they can't legally test the baby without my consent, and some say they will Rating: 5

[Dro_Princess]

Im not going to bash you for your choice but I will let you know that I have a friend who smoked pot and cigarettes all throughout her pregnancy and let me tell you that baby was extremly low in birth weight. The baby was 5 lbs 9 oz and 19 inches long full term. The smoke from both stunted the baby's growth in the womb because the smoke contains carbon monoxide which in turn starved the baby of well needed oxygen. So be aware it is possible to have some repurcutions for smoking while pregnant. I'm not saying all babies get this but be prepared. My friend felt horrible after the baby was born and seen how tiny it was and kept telling me what a bad selfish mother she already is. I think she is now going through postpartum depression but wont admit it, and I'm sure having this on her shoulders has contributed to that.

My friend was not drug tested but we are in a different state. I googled for your state and this is the only thing I could really find. Scroll down to the bottom to find a section where it talks about different states and what they do. Using Illegal Drugs during Pregnancy : American Pregnancy Association
Normally they will not drug test unless they suspect you are on drugs or if the baby is going through any kind of withdrawals or symptoms of drug use. Their haven't been too many studies on cannabis and infants so no one really knows exactly what kind of effect it could have. I would just advise you to be careful.

[jeepboi]

I will bash ever so lightly. Do you not want or care about the child growing inside you because of YOUR actions? (rhetorical) You only seem to care about what will happen to you. You are one of the reasons MMJ gets a secondary bad rep as too many people would love to conceive and would take every caution to give the child a gighting chance i n this cruel world. cigarettes included

[jeepboi]

oh and can you produce evidence stating SMOKING does no harm to children while in the womb?

doubtful. as i have done my research too

[Storm Crow]

I do wish you'd vape, instead, but I toked during both of my pregnancies and my kids came out so smart they didn't know what to do with them in kindergarten!

There are several studies on pregnancy and cannabis (click the link in my sig). In a Jamaican study, the kids of pot smokers were marginally ahead of "straight" mom's kids.

And from my own observations with other folks kids- pot doesn't mess up your kids ability to learn. The same cannot be said about the speed type drugs- I work in special ed- an amazing percentage of "my kids" have speed freak parents (some are now former users).

I have no clue where to find the answer to your question. Sorry. I wish you all the best.

[jeepboi]

I do wish you'd vape, instead, but I toked during both of my pregnancies and my kids came out so smart they didn't know what to do with them in kindergarten!

There are several studies on pregnancy and cannabis (click the link in my sig). In a Jamaican study, the kids of pot smokers were marginally ahead of "straight" mom's kids.

And from my own observations with other folks kids- pot doesn't mess up your kids ability to learn. The same cannot be said about the speed type drugs- I work in special ed- an amazing percentage of "my kids" have speed freak parents (some are now former users).

I have no clue where to find the answer to your question. Sorry. I wish you all the best.

or you both had good genes.
true if your going to beusing at least vape.

congrats on the kid and good luck.

[killerweed420]

I'm Gunner's girlfriend, I'm from Illinois, and I'm 29 weeks pregnant. I used marijuana up until 25 weeks, after several people told me they would test my baby without my consent and take him away if it came out positive. I've done A LOT of research on this, but haven't heard a straight answer yet. Some sources say they will only test the baby if the mother appears intoxicated or has tattoos or piercings, others say they can't legally test the baby without my consent, and some say they will regardless. I can't find a single source that gives me a difinitive answer. I even spoke to an attorney from NORML, and he didn't give me a very clear answer either. Everywhere mostly says to look up my state laws. The problem is that I don't know how to go about doing that, or what to even look for. So my question is, are there any mothers from Illinois who know whether or not they drug test your baby in Illinois? Or anyone who happens to know the laws?
If you're only giving your moral opinion, don't bother. I don't need to hear you bashing me for smoking pot while pregnant. I've done my research, and most of you who will have something negative to say haven't and have no idea what you're talking about. So keep your close-minded, brainwashed opinions to yourself and only answer if you have the information I'm asking for. Thanks.

I had a neice that went through this here in Washington. Here they can legally take the baby into custody if it tests positive for drugs. In her case they tested the imbilicle cord. She showed positive for meth. Which wasn't true. We fought for 3 days to get these crooks to send it off for GC/MS confirmation test where it showed up negative. Do some research. There should be a legal aid place there in Illinois that should be able to tell you what the laws are.
It puts a mother in a terrible position. You can try to have the kid birthed at home to avoid these nazi terrorists. But then off course it involves risks to both you and the baby. I feel for you. Its a terrible position to be put in when you have done nothing wrong.

[Burnt Toast]

I will bash ever so lightly. Do you not want or care about the child growing inside you because of YOUR actions? (rhetorical) You only seem to care about what will happen to you. You are one of the reasons MMJ gets a secondary bad rep as too many people would love to conceive and would take every caution to give the child a gighting chance i n this cruel world.

oh and can you produce evidence stating SMOKING does no harm to children while in the womb?

doubtful. as i have done my research too

There is no proof that eating peanut butter while pregnant doesn't cause the fetus harm either. Would you recommend that pregnant women don't eat peanut butter?

Using your logic, pregnant women would have to starve for nine months in order to avoid ingesting anything that might possibly harm the fetus, even though there is no evidence that such harm has ever taken place.


Edit:
I want to add a little something to this post - based on unimpeachable empirical evidence...


About -- oh 35-45 years ago, we had a little something called Hippies. A whole generation of them. They smoked a lot of pot (they did various other things too).

Now they were say about 15 to 29 back then (can't trust anyone over 30 was their motto) which makes them now about 50 to 64, with kids who are now in their early 30's and up, and many even breaking into their 40s. Yup the whole Generation X group.

You know the end result of all that free-love? Babies. Lots of babies. And you wanna know something else? The Maternity Wards didn't have an influx of "pot-babies" during the 1970's and 80's.

If pot affected babies, that's when it would have been noticed and the government would have climbed all over it -- it was the era of Nancy Reagan and "Just Say No" and eggs frying with your "brain on drugs" (which of course, just made us all have an instant case of the munchies).

Oh and here's another bit of information that will crisp the noodle -- all those (off-topic smokable drug) babies from the 80's? Seems it wasn't the drug or the withdrawl that was their problem, it was lack of nutrition and pre-natal care for their Moms, who were afraid to seek help from the state because they were hooked on the drug... Malnourished mothers and poor prenatal care is the leading cause of infant mortality, brain damage, and disability.

Just a thought to be known...

[LegalGanjaNow]

smoking and being prego no biggy, my wife smoke thoughout the whole pregnancy and our baby was bigger longer than the first when she didnt smoke!

I agree try to vape or eat, or just not smoke a whole lot, like once a day is good!

congrats on baby

[Purple Banana]

I'm a nursing tech on a pediatrics/labor and delivery floor. I have seen many babies come and go over the past 5 years... Some of the mothers who were tested for drugs ended up having babies born with cannabis in their system. By protocol, we were required to treat them for withdrawal, though from both my personal observations, as well as the plethora of nurses and OBGYNs on my unit, it's pretty much a joke. The only infant who did have signs of withdrawal, who tested positive for THC was also suffering opiate withdrawal.

Generally in Maryland, unless they have a reason to test the baby/mom for drug use, they won't. The babies with THC in their systems generally require a very short social work consult, but nothing of consequence.

I know this is purely anecdotal, but my best friend's mother is a very intelligent woman- one of the most respected arachnologists in the country! She also smokes pot. And lots of it. She admitted to smoking when pregnant, for both children. My friend is absolutely brilliant, and a wonderful person, as is her brother.

Good call for those of you who recognize more harm in the combustion of the plant material as more of a harmful thing than the THC and CBNs. Cannabinoids are actually produced by the mother when breastfeeding- this encourages the infant to keep drinking the nutritious milk, though I wouldn't necessarily smoke and then immediately breastfeed, the chemicals are passed to the baby.

I'd think vaporizers, brownies, tinctures, etc. would be best during pregnancy, though.