While Colorado is hyped on the legalization of marijuana, Colorado judges and child advocates still aren’t high when deciding what’s in your child’s best interests. I’m not writing this to take an ethical or medical stance on pot and parenting – I’m just a lawyer who often advocates for and against parenting and pot smoking.
I have 2 kinds of clients who hire me:
1. Those parents who use pot and are trying maintain or get more parental responsibilities.
2. Those who don’t use pot and want to limit the other parent’s parental rights and responsibilities.
Here are situations from both points of view of the pot and parenting issue.
When I represent the parent smoking the gonj, we propose a parenting plan that includes a safety plan agreeing not to smoke around the kids when parenting or within a certain amount of time before parenting. The key is to negotiate a parenting plan that gives my client enough room to still feel his freedoms and rights are protected while ensuring that the safety of the children and the comfort level of the other parent are considered and respected.
The other parent, who doesn’t smoke, would need to show and prove to the court that the children would be in an injurious environment while spending time with the pot smoking parent.
Frequently, its true that because marijuana was used in the home before the separation that the non-smoking parent has an uphill battle to restrict parenting time of the pot smoking parent after allowing such “socializing” in the home.
The difference now is you and your family are under a legal microscope focused solely on what’s in the best interest of your children.
I haven’t found a court yet that believes smoking pot with your kids around is in their best interest. This is because of the impaired state it puts you in – just like the parent who drinks too much, or because of extensive amounts of research the courts and child advocates have on everything from the secondhand smoke issues to the effects children experience inhaling your high, on their little brains.
Don’t even get me started on the impressions and lessons you are teaching your children at an impressionable age.
When representing the parent not participating in the “fun” and who frowns upon the use of the “goody, goody” by the other parent, I immediately request UAs for the Court to assess the levels of use.
The science of pot usage has become a significant part of winning these cases. We look at how high the levels of THC are in the other parent and then determine if he or she would actually be able to commit to a parenting plan with protection and safety plan provisions.
In my experience, the pot-smoking parent can’t maintain THC levels throughout ongoing UAs and doesn’t want to take the time or spend the money to prove ability to parent. Unfortunately, sometimes a parent would rather maintain his or her lifestyle than step-up to parenting.
Regardless of your position, this is all about saving your children.
There are many parents who smoke pot occasionally and can parent just fine. The kids still deserve to be with their mom and dad in a safe environment. If, on the other hand, your addiction is in control and compromises the safety of your babies, agree to short visits frequently, instead of longer or overnight visits.
If you are concerned about this topic please give me a call at 720-943-7707 or you can email me to set an appointment.
