Oklahoma court rules that moms who use medical marijuana while pregnant aren’t breaking the law

Women with state medical cards who use marijuana during pregnancy can’t be prosecuted for child neglect, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Thursday.

Amanda Aguilar has been waiting nearly four years for the ruling. She was charged with felony child neglect in Kay County in 2020 after her son tested positive for marijuana at birth, but fought her charge. A single mother of five, the case has caused her endless worry and to lose job opportunities, she said.

“I might have actually laid down if this had been a fight over any other thing else,” Aguilar said Thursday after learning the court had ruled in her favor. “But because it was over my kids, that was the reason I didn’t give up.”

Aguilar’s case was first featured in a 2022 story by The Frontier and The Marshall Project. She used medical marijuana to treat severe morning sickness during her pregnancy. Aguilar had a doctor-approved state license to use it and her son was born healthy. But the hospital reported her to child welfare workers, who handed over her baby’s drug test results to police.

The ruling sets a new legal precedent in Oklahoma, where a growing number of women have faced child neglect charges for using marijuana during their pregnancies, even when they have a license from the state to use it legally.