Louisiana mom Kassidy Rodrigue has been charged with a variety of crimes after she allegedly smoked marijuana before breastfeeding, causing the baby to have seizures, WWL-TV (New Orleans) is reporting.
Police say they received a phone call from a local hospital expressing concerns about an infant having seizures; the child, whose age has not been released, tested positive for marijuana. Police later tracked down Rodrigue, who allegedly admitted to smoking pot “hours before” breastfeeding the baby. She also allegedly admitted to being the only person around the baby who was smoking cannabis.
Rodrigue was taken downtown and charged with Second Degree Cruelty to a Juvenile and Child Desertion, according to KTVE-TV (El Dorado, Arkansas). It remains unclear, as of this writing, why she was given the latter charge. Her bail has been set at $125,000.
Cannabis And Breastfeeding
Due to marijuana’s status as a Schedule I Controlled Substance under federal law (“no medical benefit”), there has been little federally-funded research into the substance. That means that its effects on the fetus, on breastfeeding infants, and on children who are exposed to it, remain poorly understood.
According to Breastfeeding Support, drugs and other chemicals ingested by the mother can and do wind up in her breast milk, and can be passed on to the baby.
“Mothers should be advised that all of these psychotropic drugs of abuse [marijuana, heroin, LSD, phencyclidine, amphetamines and more] readily enter milk and that their infants may be at high risk of sedation, apnea, or death if the dose is high enough. Further, all mothers should be advised that regardless of the clinical effect on the infant, their infants will be drug-screen positive for many days, and perhaps weeks, following their use.”
Cannabis And Infants
As mentioned above, due to limited federally-funded research, the effects of cannabis (marijuana) on infants, including breastfeeding infants, remain poorly understood. However, limited research has revealed some risks, according to VeryWellMind.
For example, infants who live in homes where they are exposed to second-hand marijuana smoke are at a higher risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Further, infants exposed to THC (the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) are at higher risk of developing problems such as hyperactivity and impulsivity; risk impaired brain and nervous system development; and are at risk for later drug use.
More Kids Turning Up In Emergency Rooms Due To Pot Exposure
Since several states have legalized marijuana, either for recreational use or for medical use, emergency rooms across the country are reporting an increase in the number of kids exposed to pot, according to the Center on Addiction.
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