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Not So Dope: Marijuana Laws Should Include “Conduct Specific” Language to Prevent Unjustified Child Neglect Petitions Against Pot‐Smoking Parents
Author(s) -
DeVivo Elizabeth Cecilia
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
family court review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.171
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 1744-1617
pISSN - 1531-2445
DOI - 10.1111/fcre.12575
Subject(s) - neglect , harm , statute , legal guardian , guardian , warrant , law , psychology , state (computer science) , order (exchange) , criminology , political science , psychiatry , medicine , business , finance , algorithm , computer science
The substance of marijuana is becoming legal in an increasing number of states. With the rise in legallity of marijuana comes a question of how will child protective agencies treat marijuana use by a parent or guardian. Family courts have continued to use the “actual harm” standard to determine child abuse and neglect. In addition to that standard, this Note proposes the adoption of “conduct specific” language into state marijuana statutes in order to further clarify for such agencies when investigations warrant a child neglect or abuse petition to be filed against parents.