it is NC's #1 cash crop.

Baby soap?

Wrong kind of bath salts?

Sounds like there are some babies in NC that need to go to prison for a very long, perfectly reasonable amount of time.

I was gonna give my first cry,but then I got high....

Well, that would explain why babies stare off into the distance, smile and giggle about nothing, are mesmerized by shiny things, and crap themselves.

Anyone want to venture a guess as to how much that routine, and likely required neo-natal drug test adds to the total on a hospital bill?

/I'll bet it's not cheap
//or really that necessary

This is just all kinds of f*cked up. Call in child welfare, these people tested positive!
How many lives will be destroyed before the 'authorities' figure this out?

"Even when the test is accurate, there is no evidence that smoking pot endangers children," he says, adding, "There is overwhelming evidence that needless foster care endangers children." Richard Wexler an his crazy logic.

AbbeySomeone: This is just all kinds of f*cked up. Call in child welfare, these people tested positive!
How many lives will be destroyed before the 'authorities' figure this out?

good point. hopefully re-testing is not a major policy no-no or prohibitively expensive.

They test newborns for MJ? WTF?

/you suck, America

I would use drugs too if I was stuck in a red state.

It's my understanding that it's routine to run a UDS on Mom pre-labor, and on the infant if any drug use is suspected or there is any kind of depression of tone, reflex, mentation or respiration after delivery.

It's a biatch havin' the munchies when you've got no farkin' teeth.

If they test positive they don't qualify for welfare. Those babies need to get clean and get a farking job.

FirstNationalBastard: Well, that would explain why babies stare off into the distance, smile and giggle about nothing, are mesmerized by shiny things, and crap themselves.

You don't hang around NASCAR fans much do you?

WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE... oh, right.

Depending on how long this has been happening, it would explain a lot about this current generation.

/DNRTA

4th Ammendment. How does it work?

Amniotic fluid, the gateway drug.

Home birth. I did it once, with a midwife as guide. No false positives when no tests taken.

Ennuipoet:

I'm guessing... far too much sugar, like every other bottle.

News just in. Government plans to ban baby soap.

It isn't just kids. I went to the ER with a rapid heart rate and they didn't disclose testing me for drugs until my cardiologist mentioned it a few days later.

I figured they'd test for meth.

FirstNationalBastard: Well, that would explain why babies stare off into the distance, smile and giggle about nothing, are mesmerized by shiny things, and crap themselves.

They also vomit a lot and have no bladder control, more like tiny drunk people, really.

America is becoming like an insane version of Ancient Rome.

/wonder who'll be the first emperor

Hey, how is the hospital getting parental consent for this test? If the mom's clean, she won't waste the money on a test she knows will be negative; if the mom is not, she obviously won't allow it for legal reasons. Are hospitals running these tests without the parent's knowledge or consent? And if so, who is paying for it?

These are not soaps, they are detergents.

Mitrovarr: Hey, how is the hospital getting parental consent for this test? If the mom's clean, she won't waste the money on a test she knows will be negative; if the mom is not, she obviously won't allow it for legal reasons. Are hospitals running these tests without the parent's knowledge or consent? And if so, who is paying for it?

Read the consent form you sign when you get admitted to a hospital, or get seen in an ER. That fine print allows them to do a LOT you don't realize.

Do they check the kids ID too? Might be Mexican. How about interrogation of the mother to make she she knows how to change a diaper? And oh ya, make sure the dad has a job.

How is bobbmarlee formed?

Doctors at UNC Chapel Hill noting a sharp increase in newborns testing positive for marijuana due to baby soap. In other news, drug abuse is apparently so bad in NC that they have to drug test newborns.

You know, because women in college so seldom use marijuana in the rest of the country...

AbbeySomeone: This is just all kinds of f*cked up. Call in child welfare, these people tested positive!
How many lives will be destroyed before the 'authorities' figure this out?

And who cares? It's just southerners and brown people.

FTFA: Newborn screening for marijuana at hospitals, particularly among babies of women who are considered at high risk of drug use, is not uncommon...

Which is to say, poor people.

We can all laugh, but try looking at a few million dollar newborn's NICU case records where mama was addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Some of these poor kids are born extremely premature, drug addicted, have multiple birth defects, and end up with a trach, respirator, and maybe a gastro tube. The saddest part is seeing how the same kid may end up disabled for life.

Pregnancy and addiction just don't go together well.

TheGreatGazoo: It isn't just kids. I went to the ER with a rapid heart rate and they didn't disclose testing me for drugs until my cardiologist mentioned it a few days later.

I figured they'd test for meth.

Would you prefer thay ran the full battery of tests without including one that statiscally may point to the use of meth use. You don't want someone to test for drugs don't put yourself in a position where testing become intrusive.

Not a user so tes away biatches!!

*listening to the Five Satins singing In the Still of the Night while breaking in a new set of 40 year old monitors so getting a kick....*

I know hospitals here in Oklahoma automatically test any woman who has not gotten pre-natal care or is a "drop-in" delivery (coming in to an emergency room in labor). Unfortunately, many of the women who they test are using illegal substances. A lot of of other women in this situation don't know they have a right to object to being drug tested or to having their children drug tested. In addition, if a woman does (rightfully) object, hospital workers get suspicious, and a call to child welfare is made anyway. Go figure.

However, for a great part of our state, child welfare does not automatically remove children who are born drug exposed (especially to marijuana).

CJHardin: 4th Ammendment. How does it work?

It doesn't

Great. Another way for the "War on Drugs" to make your life a living hell without any actual drugs being involved.

I say we pass on testing the babies, and just test those whose lifestyle is supplemented by the state.

cirby: Doctors at UNC Chapel Hill noting a sharp increase in newborns testing positive for marijuana due to baby soap. In other news, drug abuse is apparently so bad in NC that they have to drug test newborns.

You know, because women in college so seldom use marijuana in the rest of the country...

It's a teaching hospital affiliated with UNC - it's huge, and serves many, many more people than just women in college.

/my son was born there so I'm getting a kick out of these replies

Dude in Austin: We can all laugh, but try looking at a few million dollar newborn's NICU case records where mama was addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Some of these poor kids are born extremely premature, drug addicted, have multiple birth defects, and end up with a trach, respirator, and maybe a gastro tube. The saddest part is seeing how the same kid may end up disabled for life.

Pregnancy and addiction just don't go together well.


But they're not talking about testing newborns after delivery, they're testing urine samples of kids coming in for check-ups or other purposes.

Dude in Austin: We can all laugh, but try looking at a few million dollar newborn's NICU case records where mama was addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Some of these poor kids are born extremely premature, drug addicted, have multiple birth defects, and end up with a trach, respirator, and maybe a gastro tube. The saddest part is seeing how the same kid may end up disabled for life.

Pregnancy and addiction just don't go together well.

How does testing after the child is born prevent children winding up in NICU or with deformities? That makes no sense.

Dude in Austin: We can all laugh, but try looking at a few million dollar newborn's NICU case records where mama was addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Some of these poor kids are born extremely premature, drug addicted, have multiple birth defects, and end up with a trach, respirator, and maybe a gastro tube. The saddest part is seeing how the same kid may end up disabled for life.

Pregnancy and addiction just don't go together well.

Nice to see someone in field giving their perspective. i work in a hospital and can back these claims up from a tech's perspective. Pregnant? For once and for the next 9 months think of someone other than yourself and stay clean. Once you push that parasite out, you can give it away and become the trash people have come to expect you to be. Maybe by then, "responsibility' may become part of your vocabulary and raising your child will become more rewarding instead of a burden.

Amos Quito: But they're not talking about testing newborns after delivery, they're testing urine samples of kids coming in for check-ups or other purposes.

If a kid is acting altered or with a decreased mental status in any way, shape, or form, they're going to run a Urine Drug Screen. It's pretty much considered a legal and clinical standard of care. Since it's not being used for any legal prosecution reason, and they will require a warrant for the results to be released and used in court, there's no violation of the 4th Amendment, and the consent is given when you sign the admission consent forms.

Not only could he or she have been poisoned or accidentally given medication or drugs which will show up, a lot of stuff is passed through breast milk, including THC. And breast milk concentrates THC, which can be responsable for the depression and altered mental status.

Newborn screening for marijuana at hospitals, particularly among babies of women who are considered at high risk of drug use, is not uncommon: at U.N.C. Chapel Hill, 10% to 40% of newborns are tested.

10% to 40% of newborns? Nice, narrow numbers.

Umfufu: I say we pass on testing the babies, and just test those whose lifestyle is supplemented by the state.

I say we pass on testing everyone because I do not care about cannabis use and would rather not spend money combating a nonissue through enforcement or testing, not to mention I want to avoid infringing upon the privacy of people without a compelling interest. Simply receiving welfare, disability, unemployment, etc., is not a compelling interest.

LurkinFarker:
It's a teaching hospital affiliated with UNC - it's huge, and serves many, many more people than just women in college.

Probably - but it's pretty much an even bet that the "test for marijuana" idea came from a school administrator...

clowncar on fire: Dude in Austin: We can all laugh, but try looking at a few million dollar newborn's NICU case records where mama was addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Some of these poor kids are born extremely premature, drug addicted, have multiple birth defects, and end up with a trach, respirator, and maybe a gastro tube. The saddest part is seeing how the same kid may end up disabled for life.

Pregnancy and addiction just don't go together well.

Nice to see someone in field giving their perspective. i work in a hospital and can back these claims up from a tech's perspective. Pregnant? For once and for the next 9 months think of someone other than yourself and stay clean. Once you push that parasite out, you can give it away and become the trash people have come to expect you to be. Maybe by then, "responsibility' may become part of your vocabulary and raising your child will become more rewarding instead of a burden.


Again, they're NOT talking about testing newborns fresh out of the womb.

Mothers washing their baby with Aveeno, Baby Magic or other soaps while the child is still in utero is less common than you think.

Amos Quito: Again, they're NOT talking about testing newborns fresh out of the womb.

Mothers washing their baby with Aveeno, Baby Magic or other soaps while the child is still in utero is less common than you think.

I've heard some douchebags do that.