Mom Gives Infant Bong Hits
Via Howard comes this depressing story:
A Montana mother who allowed her 18-month-old baby daughter to inhale from a marijuana water pipe on several occasions was properly convicted, but should not have to spend five years in jail, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday.
Jessica Durham was photographed allowing her toddler Michala to suck from a marijuana water pipe, also known as a bong, in 2004 by a friend upset about the activity.
“Ms. Durham allegedly remarked that smoking improved Michala’s appetite and left Michala lethargic and mellow – a manner she found consistent with her own experience smoking marijuana,” Judge Louis Pollak of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in summarizing the case.
Michala is a feminine form of Michal, meaning “who resembles God.”
Normally when I post bizarre stories like this, I end the post with a snarky comment. But here, I can’t think of one and don’t want to try.
/snark on/
lethargic and mellow means Mom doesn’t have to chase after an active 18 month old toddler and since Mom is spending her time lethargic and mellow….
/snark off/
it is very sad. Jessica should have to spend time in jail for child endangerment but since she’s not I hope that Michala has been taken away from her.
kimsch (127da6) — 9/22/2006 @ 9:42 pmShe’s stil subject to two years, not five. Click through the link.
Patterico (de0616) — 9/22/2006 @ 9:53 pmI shudder.
Anwyn (d24425) — 9/22/2006 @ 9:56 pmIf waterboarding is bad, reverse waterboarding is ok?
Seriously, I know nearly first-hand of a case where a mother is giving her approx. one year-old occasional beer. An older sister, who does not live in that area anymore, complained on a couple of occasions to “Family Services” [or whatever it’s called this second] without any response or call back at all. My daughter who visited the site thought it was nearly a crack house.
I think it’s almost an intended epidemic, the incompetence of the “system”. And no one else can possibly intervene.
My sister has been watching her “poor” next door neighbors for about 7 years, if only because their child keeps trying to force her way into my sister’s house, and they have 8 dogs, one of which is permanently caged outside, the previous one there having died. They have 40 rabbits, for no reason. It goes on and on.
My sister does her best to help the caged dog with feeding, watering, and attention. The City knows, the Police know, the School knows, the Power Companies know, the Church knows, everybody knows. The cop who lives next door on the other side knows. I know of something to try, but why should I have to do it from a distance of 1800 miles?
It drives my sister nearly crazy, also because the family tries to get her to help them cover up – take a few dogs temporarily, for example. And a few days ago, the family tried to get my sister to buy their foodstamps.
I think this family gets off because it is “poor”. Well, they only have 5 t-v’s, 3 computers, two big plastic swimming pools, three cell phone numbers and one hard-wire line, water running into the yard continuously, a 2 year old car, some snakes and cats, a 2500sq. ft. house,…, in a good neighborhood.
J. Peden (0a5845) — 9/22/2006 @ 10:37 pmBad Parenting: Your infant, yes infant, tokes a bong; new meaning to “potty training”…
“Youthful indiscretion” at 18 months?
Not content with waiting until her child hits her rebellious teen years and succumbs to peer pressure to make her own bad decisions, a really bad Montana mother fast-forwarded the process by 15 year…
Independent Sources (dd41d6) — 9/23/2006 @ 8:43 am[…] h/t: Patterico and How Appealing […]
Independent Sources » Blog Archive » Bad Parenting: Your infant, yes infant, tokes a bong; new meaning to “potty training” (dd41d6) — 9/23/2006 @ 8:45 am18 months is way, way too young for bong hits. try to keep your kids away from it at least until 7th or 8th grade.
assistant devil's advocate (bd2929) — 9/23/2006 @ 9:18 amWould it be okay to give your kid a bong hit before you cut off his foreskin in a religous ritual?
TomHynes (c41bdd) — 9/23/2006 @ 10:56 amUgh. Bad parenting truly knows no bounds. 🙁
aphrael (3bacf3) — 9/23/2006 @ 11:06 amThose “poor” people above also got a corrupt middleman to arrange for their house to be refinanced. He created some new rooms, getting the “poor” another $18,000, which they have spent on such things as two purebred puppies and a motorscooter for their 11y.o. kid, who recently also let loose the break on the family’s car, causing it to roll across the street and into someone’s yard. Fortuneately the curb finally stopped it.
My sister is an excellent observer. And she has to be. This family’s house might just blow up: their gas is allegedly turned off, but they tried to get a boyfriend to tap into the gas line. The gas Co. condemned their furnace, but there is really no telling what they will do next. I lived around there for 2 years. This is not a fantasy.
J. Peden (918fce) — 9/23/2006 @ 11:24 amThanks Patterico. I hadn’t clicked the link. She still should never be allowed to care for Michala again…
kimsch (127da6) — 9/23/2006 @ 5:55 pmThere are worse people in
nk (2e1372) — 9/23/2006 @ 6:18 pmthe worldAmerica. (Yahoo link. Might not last.)Shouldn’t be allowed to care for her? She wasn’t ASS RAPING the baby with a bong.
John (1f88c7) — 10/5/2006 @ 12:39 pmA bong hit prahley not but blowing the smoke in the general vacinity, I wont hate… My dad gives my new sister drinks from his margarita and I know of many parents who give their children alcohol in moderation, Marijuana has proven benefits so stop tripping people, It prevents cancer and many other bad diseases. It rebuilds damaged neurons.
Mike (6bcc47) — 12/28/2006 @ 6:36 amGambling…
nice blog!…
Gambling (2067c3) — 2/25/2007 @ 7:37 pmhey uh, mike from post 14. marijuana actually can cause cancer not prevent it. i guess you though so because pot is used for cancer patients? but its only to relieve pain or nausea from chemo.
the dumbest thing about all this is it would make the baby hungrier than it already is so it probly didnt help much with crying, but at least she was smart enough to give it a bong 😀
Joe (0c77f7) — 8/12/2007 @ 12:16 pm