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InvisibleSimplepowa
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Tennessee law puts new mom in jail for drug use while pregnant
    #20271062 - 07/14/14 12:36 PM (9 years, 8 months ago)

Tennessee law puts new mom in jail for drug use while pregnant
First woman charged with assault this week under new law

By Meagan Fitzpatrick, CBC News Posted: Jul 11, 2014 2:56 PM ET Last Updated: Jul 11, 2014 2:56 PM ET

The state of Tennessee charged a woman this week with assault because her new baby tested positive for drugs. The controversial new law went into effect in April and is the first of its kind in the country.

Mallory Loyola, a 26-year-old Tennessee woman, gave birth a few days ago, and was then promptly put behind bars. She was the first to be charged under a controversial new state law that allows women who use illegal drugs while pregnant to be prosecuted for assault.

Tennessee's law is the first of its kind in the United States. It went into effect in April. Loyola, charged on Tuesday, gave birth to a baby that tested positive for meth. She was taken into police custody as she was being discharged from the hospital and her bond was set at $2,000, according to local news reports.

The law was signed by Gov. Bill Haslam over objections from critics who argued it punishes women who are suffering from addiction and need help, not a criminal prosecution. The Tennessee branch of the American Civil Liberties Union wants to challenge the law in court and now that the first case is on the books it may have the plaintiff it’s seeking.

The ACLU and other objectors have raised a long list of complaints about the law. "It punishes pregnant women who decide to remain pregnant despite suffering from a substance abuse problem," Hedy Weinberg, the branch's executive director, said in an interview. Pregnant women and new mothers are unfairly being singled out when substance abuse is a problem across the board, she said.
Critics say law will deter women from getting help

The state isn't supposed to make having an addiction a crime yet that's what the law does, the ACLU contends.

The organization, and others in the women's rights and medical fields, say rather than deter women from using drugs, the law will deter women from getting the prenatal health care they need. That puts the health of the mother and child at risk, they say.

"Threatening punitive sanctions will not solve the problem. In fact, policies that threaten women with criminal prosecution and the loss of their children drive women away from health care and discourage them from seeking both prenatal and pregnancy care," said Weinberg, adding the law will foster mistrust between women and their doctors.

The law also gives far too much discretion to prosecutors and is open to abuse because it is too vague, the ACLU told the governor in a letter urging him to veto the bill. The law says an assault or homicide charge can be laid if a child is born "addicted to or harmed by" illegal drugs taken by its mother or it dies as a result of the use.

But because the law doesn’t define the type or degree of harm and any number of factors during a pregnancy can cause harm, it’s difficult to isolate which one causes a specific outcome, the ACLU argues.

The Drug Policy Alliance is another group opposed to the law and calls it "horrible public policy." A war on drugs and a war on reproductive rights collide with this law, Tamar Todd wrote on the organization’s website, and it’s an "unhappy convergence."

"Like other failed policies of the war on drugs, the prosecution of pregnant women ignores science, evidence, and health in favour of stigmatization and punishment. And it comes at a huge cost, paid primarily by women of colour, poor women, and the children of these women who will be cut off from prenatal care and perhaps removed from their families in the state’s zeal to punish their mothers," wrote Todd.
Law meant to be 'velvet hammer'

Some women smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol while pregnant too, but they aren’t being thrown in jail, Todd suggests, saying it’s certain populations who are being targeted with this law because of the kinds of drugs they use.

Defenders of the law say it is not designed to punish women. They called it a "velvet hammer" meant to encourage pregnant women to get help. The governor said it gives law enforcement another tool to respond to illicit drug use. The law is scheduled to be in effect for two years, then lawmakers can decide whether to keep it or not.

"We have too many women in Tennessee giving multiple births to drug-dependent babies," Amy Weirich, a district attorney in Memphis, was quoted as saying in the New York Times. "The focus of the legislation is not to punish these mothers. It’s to get them help for their drug addiction, using the drug courts."

Supporters point to the provision that allows for a woman to avoid conviction if she completes an addiction treatment program.

But that doesn’t satisfy critics who respond that there are not enough spaces in treatment centres for pregnant women and women with young children and treatment in a private facility is unaffordable for many who are struggling with an addiction.

The ACLU’s Weinberg said it’s distressing that Tennessee is dealing with a drug abuse problem by focusing more on punitive measures than on creating more access to treatment for women.

Drug policy, health care, and legal protections for fetuses, are all touchy and controversial topics in the U.S. and Tennessee brings them all together in one law.

Its critics hope the state is an outlier and that the idea won’t spread to other states. "The law doesn’t solve the problem," Weinberg said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/tennessee-law-puts-new-mom-in-jail-for-drug-use-while-pregnant-1.2704325?cmp=fbtl&utm_content=buffer1a445&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer


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Offlinesprinkles
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Re: Tennessee law puts new mom in jail for drug use while pregnant [Re: Simplepowa]
    #20271067 - 07/14/14 12:38 PM (9 years, 8 months ago)

make her abort and sterilize her.  damn drug addicts should not be having kids.


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OfflineFractalReal
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Re: Tennessee law puts new mom in jail for drug use while pregnant [Re: sprinkles]
    #20275981 - 07/15/14 09:49 AM (9 years, 8 months ago)

The treatment programs for addicts are by and large worthless and the lifestyle encouraged by criminalization is tragic. Other alternatives need to be explored-including energy work and natural remedies-in conjunction with compassionate individuals who genuinely want to help the addicted through their sickness to see lasting results. Hate breeds hate: but love also ripples. Prison is much to harsh a punishment for a person who has imprisoned themselves through self destruction.


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"I saw your eyes go from lower case to capital...it's like you had to pull the rug from underneath yourself to feel alive." -Cecil Otter

"In the business of isness: I am." -One of my t-shirt designs

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OfflineBig_Dave
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Re: Tennessee law puts new mom in jail for drug use while pregnant [Re: FractalReal] * 1
    #20278945 - 07/15/14 09:46 PM (9 years, 8 months ago)

Who knew that giving birth gives the cops the right to drug test you. Even though I agree that doing meth while pregnant is some seriously fucked up shit, how can this possibly be legal? Oh well.

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OfflineMightyWhite
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Re: Tennessee law puts new mom in jail for drug use while pregnant [Re: Big_Dave]
    #20279817 - 07/16/14 04:54 AM (9 years, 8 months ago)

Well my guess would be she was another young single mom receiving state assistance,  and when your in that situation, they drug test the baby as soon as its delivered. At least in Michigan I know this to be true. Except in Michigan,they don't incarcerate you for being pregnant and using drugs. They reward you with sympathy and more assistance.

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OfflineTnraven
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Re: Tennessee law puts new mom in jail for drug use while pregnant [Re: MightyWhite]
    #20348057 - 07/29/14 05:38 PM (9 years, 7 months ago)

Ok so I (as a mother) am just going to throw myself into this discussion.  Sorry to those I offend, however I am not sorry for my point of view.  Hopefully my perspective will give some light to mother out there who are struggling with this law. 

I have given live birth to two boy, i have also lost three children...through no fault, just is what it is....Upon the birth of my babies I refused even the medications that the doctors offered me to help with the pain.  I had quit smoking, drinking caffeine and refused to even eat foods that might cause problems.  Having two children naturally (and i dont mean just in the traditional way, but i mean with no medications) is not easy, but it is rewarding. 

Two years after my last son was born his cousins were born.  Twins, one boy and one girl.  I watched as they struggled just to survive because One : their mother used drugs while pregnant (fact), they were born early because of this use (fact) they suffered low birth weight, (normal for twins and premies and not solely attributed to her abuse)  , the boy had bleeding on two section of a four section brain (meaning you can only bleed in two sections of the brain without permanent damage, he was lucky or so they say he is not truly old enough to tell if he will suffer yet), I watched as the daughter had tubes shoved into her lungs to help her breath because they were not developed enough, and i spent the whole next year after they finally got out of the hospital dealing with the after effects of withdrawal and want (because they do not know what it is they are crying for, they do not know what it is they are asking for...their mother put that into their little bodies without thought)....so unless you have seen that....dont judge a person for their opinion against pregnant women and drugs.  MJ is not a drug..MJ has very little effect on unborn children.....
I am a TN resident and I say "HELL TO THE YEA, ABOUT F_ING TIME"  I am so over hearing addiction is something you can not control..I am and so is many others i know proof that it is just a state of mind..with motivation and the mindset that it is what you want...its over and done with...you have to want it. these mothers care so little about the life they created that they dont want it enough...so kudos to TN for finally doing something right in the mix of so much they have done wrong....That baby did not ask to be born with anything in its system...Truth is if she couldnt kick her addiction mother should of never ever laid down and made that baby...I find no excuse for this..my own sister who is one of the biggest users i know, and full of the whole addiction problem..(although addiction once again is a state of mind, not truly a problem, it is an excuse by weak minded people who refuse to change their lives for any reason) found out she is pregnant, and just stopped, she didnt need a doctor to tell her about withdrawals because for that baby she had none, that does not mean after her nine months are up she wont go back...just means she is aware of what addiction is and how to control the fact of her wants, versus her babies needs....once you have a life growing within you if you give a shit at all.....you will kick it...if you dont...well then you deserve what you get...addiction is a state of mind not chemical...i am the daughter of an alcoholic...um i dont like alcohol....i prefer weed..yet i managed not to smoke weed while i was pregnant, and i manage to not smoke now that there is something in my life that says i cant that i want more than life......which is my future step child....so for a woman to say I CANT, just plain goes to show you she wont, doesnt and wont care....baby is prob better off where it will end up and she is prob better off in jail, maybe she will then care more about her actions and the outcomes...once you are pregnant...IT IS NO LONGER JUST YOUR BODY!!! why do you think women get abortions.....while i dont agree with them...doesnt mean that their reasoning is wrong...Its your body...if you cant control it than you are just the weakest link...time the population was better off without you.........I am all for getting your high on and having a relaxing moment....i am not for polluting your body with things that child never asked for.....if when they are of age they choose that ....well that is on them.....doesnt mean you should EVER be able to just say "im going to get high, damn what it will do to the fetus growing within my body...."  it is no longer your body...a female at birth should get use to that unless you take measures to permanently fix that..which is what pregnant users should have happen to them...sterilization....if you didnt get it right the first time, why should you be given a second chance....sorry..might get booted for all of this.....but I think this may be the first and only thing Haslam has gotten right.

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OfflineFractalReal
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Re: Tennessee law puts new mom in jail for drug use while pregnant [Re: Tnraven]
    #20348156 - 07/29/14 05:58 PM (9 years, 7 months ago)

You're right...addiction can be remedied. I still say prison or jail is going about it the wrong way...addiction is basically a form of insanity. It leads it's victim(willing or unwilling)to not think about consequences and have poor judgement. If everyone were equally judged by their low point most would probably be thrown into prison. Elaborate on how a kid being sent into the random care of another human or 'group home' while their Mom is sent to dwell amongst dangerous and criminal beings is the most merciful option? My point leads back to your point: addiction isn't insurmountable. These mothers are capable of overcoming the hurdles that come with detoxing and I believe guidance and proper oversight would be a massive improvement on the witch burning laws in place.


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"I saw your eyes go from lower case to capital...it's like you had to pull the rug from underneath yourself to feel alive." -Cecil Otter

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InvisibleBlueIndian
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Re: Tennessee law puts new mom in jail for drug use while pregnant [Re: FractalReal] * 1
    #20349262 - 07/29/14 11:06 PM (9 years, 7 months ago)

I'll say right now i didn't read whole thing or all the comments. If a woman...and I use that lightly...subjects a fetus to crap like meth she sure isn't going to straighten up after it's born. Hospital did the right thing raising the flag. She shouldn't be involved with the kid til she get's her shit straight...if she ever does. Here's the thing...so many places say rehab/ treatment centers are full and have a waiting list....guess what? They always have room in the pokey so that's where she goes and belongs. Sorry folks...if you can't make good decisions for a baby in the womb you can't after it's out. Judge made a good call here.

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OfflineFractalReal
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Re: Tennessee law puts new mom in jail for drug use while pregnant [Re: BlueIndian]
    #20349345 - 07/29/14 11:25 PM (9 years, 7 months ago)

It's a vicious cycle of ignorance. Harm done for harm equals justice? I believe the mother should be allotted the time to clean the substance from her system and also to receive psychiatric assistance/evaluation before possibly being able to reunite with her child. It stands to reason that many good people have fallen victim to escapism and in the process became addicted to a substance, whether legal or not, that impaired their ability to think and function in a normal way. Given the opportunity to heal who's to say they can't be a perfectly functional, loving, compassionate parent with the added insight of having overcome a demon that their child may eventually face? Attack and punishment are not correction or synonymous of love. I wouldn't wish prison on myself in that situation let alone anybody else...not to mention the prison systems are used as a trash can for the mentally ill ranging from the slightly skewed to tbe very psychotic,


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"I saw your eyes go from lower case to capital...it's like you had to pull the rug from underneath yourself to feel alive." -Cecil Otter

"In the business of isness: I am." -One of my t-shirt designs

Edited by FractalReal (07/29/14 11:27 PM)

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InvisibleBlueIndian
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Re: Tennessee law puts new mom in jail for drug use while pregnant [Re: BlueIndian]
    #20349362 - 07/29/14 11:28 PM (9 years, 7 months ago)

Tnraven....I went back and read all you wrote trying to make sense. One you say MJ is not a drug and doesn't have an effect on an unborn child. I don't think we know that for sure but I'm not one jumping on women who do a little during preggo. Much better than the cig puffin wine drinkers I've seen. I think some MJ in light doses are fine. There is a reason it was put here and the receptors put in our minds...it's natural.

TNraven...if your sis has really caused health probs with other crap learn to forgive and step in to help rather than keep the hate going. Also remember twins are sometimes premies based on other factors. Just never know what really caused things. Did they induce this delivery? Was there an amniosenthesis done to check the lung health prior to delivery? Just asking because sometimes conclusions get made not considering all factors

Amneosenthesis (SP) is when a long needle is inserted into the abdomen with the tip of the needle close to the babies head. Then the embryonic fluid is pulled into the syringe and they can dtermine the ability of the baby's lungs to function on their own....did they happen to do that?

Edited by BlueIndian (07/29/14 11:35 PM)

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OfflineTnraven
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Re: Tennessee law puts new mom in jail for drug use while pregnant [Re: BlueIndian]
    #20355100 - 07/31/14 10:46 AM (9 years, 7 months ago)

It goes way beyond just what happened at birth...i know for a fact shes a snorter because i walked in on her in my bathroom one day.  The baby girl tested positive for  morphine which no one had administered to her or the mother.  The little boy suffered bleeding on the brain and possible repercussions from that later on in life.  She had a tube shoved into her lungs not because her lungs were not completely developed so much as the morphine had some kind of reaction with her breathing on her own.  An incision was made under her arm pit.  The scar is still very visible.  Both babies had so many tubes stuck in them (down their mouth, legs arms there was just this never ever ending amount of tubes, for their tiny little bodies).  She drank while she was pregnant and smoked around three packs a day, never finishing one cig before lighting another.  Not illegal mind you, my own mother did it with me.  When the babies came home they were so tiny, their car seats were often their beds, as a parent i would like to believe it was because they would get hurt in anything else but still their choice.  The boy had an appointment with my childrens pediatrician, but the little girl was the one feeling the worse, coughing so much for such a little baby and when you would clean her lungs out white milky stuff would come out and she was laboring to breath at times.  (DCS did nothing but release the babies from the hospital.  No drug therapy, recommendations...just nothing.  Their dad, took the girl to the doctor while mom stayed at home with the boy.  They were told when they brought the babies home not to prop their bottles up...they did not listen.  Mom went over and found both babies that morning soaked through, their car seat their diapers, everything, those babies had been there for a while.  While there the babies mom said she didnt feel well and went to her room.  Soon after the dad went to their room.  They were gone about an hour and then came back out.  That was when mom told them to take the girl rather than the boy.  The dad took the girl to the doctor like i said and the doctor told him to take her upstairs immediately he was admitting her to the hospital she had fluid in her lungs.  And that basically she was slowly drowning.  He took her home.  9 1/2 hours later after many calls to me and mom the doctor said if they didnt bring her he was calling the state.  So they took her after we went over and made them.  It took 20 minuets for them to answer the door.  This is when the state became involved.  The cops kicked in the door and found all kinds of legal and illegal drugs as well as needles and other stuff and the baby who was with the maternal grandmother was in a room crying, wet from head to toe, and raspy.  The doctor admitted him as well to keep them together and treat him before it got to her phase.  They were placed in kinship custody where they remain today.  The sad part is she never did anything to get those kids back, and ended up pregnant again not long after.  The state took that baby and placed it with kinship to. It also tested positive for more than one substance. 
Some say help is all they need.  This girl was offered help any way you could possibly get it.  With offer of complete financial help to get her through every phase she needed to get through..instead she disappeared.  Got pregnant again, not to mention she has an other child that is in her dads care.  To those that seem to not understand the childs point of view imagine your self tied up there is nothing you can do, you cant move, you cant speak, you are completely dependent on your captor to provide every thing you need to live.  Yet among the necessities you need they decide to start giving you drugs...they just force it into you without thought or feeling as to what it will do to you.  You didnt ask for this.  Neither do these babies.  It is a mothers job to protect the life they create.  If you cant DONT MAKE THEM.  It really is that simple.  I didnt drink caffeine while i was pregnant let alone smoke or anything else, and very rarely ever even took Tylenol.  She got away with it so many times because she mainly abused her prescription medication.  The children are well placed, loved and taken very good care of and just celebrated a birthday.  We have had generations of this at this point to acknowledge that the offer of help is refused and you cant court order someone into being a good parent and wanting to do the right thing.  You want to pump every toxic chemical known to man into your system that is one thing.  Its on you...Im all for natures own.  And i believe some very natural things are considered illegal and bad when they continually produce chemically compounded substances and writing prescriptions for them like they are candy.  Perhaps this makes me one sided but I believe in the numbers of it.  And we are way past the number of cases of children that are born addicted to some substance or another.  as for her Prenatal care she went to the doctor twice when she was pregnant.  they were going to talk of lowering one of her more harmful medications and instead she didnt go back.  the prescription was good for a year and as long as she didnt have a stop order from the doctor she never had to change the dosage.  So once when she found out, and the next appointment, and nothing else after.  Sorry the whole story is a bit long.

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