In Kansas, there is a medical marijuana activist by the name Shonda Banda. She has Crohn's Disease. It is a very painful digestive problem that causes severe cramping, among other things to its victims. She uses cannabis oil to help with her pain. In Kansas marijuana is illegal in all circumstances. She is working to change that.
One day the school her son attends gave a class on drug use. Since his mother is an activist, one can imagine that this little boy understands the ins and outs of the issue. During this discussion her son made statements when he believed the information that was being told to the class was incorrect. This raised the hackles of the counselors. They called the CPS, who then called the cops.
They show up at the school, take the little boy out of his class to question him. They did not call either parent to get permission to talk to an 11 year-old-boy.
After her son spoke out about medical marijuana, police detained him and launched a raid on Shona Banda’s home. “Well, they had that drug education class at school that was just conducted by the counselors… They pulled my son out of school at about 1:40 in the afternoon and interrogated him. Police showed up at my house at 3… I let them know that they weren’t allowed in my home without a warrant… I didn’t believe you could get a warrant off of something a child says in school.” Banda continued, “We waited from 3 o’clock until 6 o’clock. They got a warrant at 6 o’clock at night and executed a warrant into my home. My husband and I are separated, and neither parent was contacted by authorities before [our son] was taken and questioned.”
They found a small amount of cannabis oil in her home. With the amount being as small as it is, obviously it is for personal use. She isn't a drug dealer. She uses a substance that helps her deal with chronic pain. For this, she has lost her child.
She has been charged with no crime, yet she still must go into court to prove that she should still have custody of her child. You can feel that pot, even for medicinal use, should remain illegal, and realize how wrong this is.
There is no proof that this child was being given an illegal substance. The boy simply understands the issues surrounding the use of medicinal pot. That isn't a crime. That isn't child abuse.
The State of Kansas has done nothing to "protect" this child, they have done quite the opposite. This child has been harmed by the very agency that is supposed to help him in cases of abuse and neglect. When we have a government that is so large that it can walk into a classroom of a child, question him without parental permission, then use those statements of a child to get a warrant to get into the home of the parent, we have a government that is too powerful.
This child has been harmed more by the state than anything his mother has done. That is something that shouldn't be allowed to stand.