Parents have lost custody of their newborn daughter after the mother used a tea made with medical marijuana to treat her morning sickness and discomfort, authorities said.
Hollie Sanford of Cleveland, Ohio, said she decided to use "pot tea" to help with her extreme morning sickness and nerve pain while pregnant with her daughter, Nova, Fox 8 News reports. Sanford told Fox 8 that doctors were going to dispense opiates, but she was afraid of the effect of opiates on her unborn child.
“We did the research, and THC, the psychoactive element, doesn’t reach the baby after it’s metabolized through my body,” Hollie told Fox 8 News. “So it’s not like the baby is stoned, like people might think.”
When their daughter was born on Sept. 26, the hospital performed a drug test on the baby. The child tested positive for a byproduct of marijuana.
“They never even asked us,” said Sanford told Fox 8 News. “They tested my baby’s diaper with the meconium stool.”
Hospital records said the baby “was very healthy at birth” and there was “no evidence the child was exposed to THC or suffered from withdrawal,” according to Fox 8 News. But Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services took the baby into custody.
“The case worker came in and said 'You guys can leave, but you cannot take your daughter,'" said the child's father, Daniel Sanford, told Fox 8 News.
The couple was able to get Nova into the care of a family member while they fight for custody of their child, according to Fox 8 News.
Read more at fox8.com
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