Pubdate: Sat, 17 Sep 2005
Source: Hamilton Spectator (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005 The Hamilton Spectator
Contact:  http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/181
Author: Susan Clairmont
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

POT USE PUTS PARENTS ON THE SPOT

Police Say Smoking Up Every Day Could Pose Danger To Baby

There are baby bottles but no bongs.

At least none I can see.

I'm sitting in Chris and Melissa Goodwin's living room. They smoke pot 
every day. Quite a lot of it. They say so themselves.

Chris is the owner of Up in Smoke, Hamilton's controversial pot cafe. 
Melissa is a surgical trauma nurse.

The Goodwins are also parents.

Baby Christian is almost seven months old. He smiles and kicks as he is 
passed back and forth between his mom and dad, who take turns kissing the 
top of his head and wiping away his spit-up. Christian's cheeks are chubby, 
he smiles a lot. He seems well loved.

A few days ago, a Children's Aid Society of Hamilton social worker sat 
right here for two hours making the same observations. She was -- still is 
actually -- investigating the Goodwin family because of a report filed by a 
Hamilton police constable.

Constable James Sutthery had a conversation with Chris a few weeks ago. 
They were talking -- go figure -- about cannabis. During the chat, Chris 
said he smokes marijuana every day and so does his wife. I can't imagine 
Sutthery was too surprised to hear that. After all, Chris has become a 
minor celebrity in this city for loudly promoting the legalization and 
enjoyment of weed.

Chris didn't think much of the exchange with Sutthery until Wednesday 
afternoon, when he got a frantic call from his wife.

"She was very panicked and in tears," says Chris.

A CAS worker had showed up unannounced at their East Mountain home saying 
she was investigating Baby Christian's welfare based on this written report 
filed by Sutthery on Aug. 30: "I, officer Sutthery, had a conversation with 
the owner of the pot cafe in which Chris Goodwin admitted to using 
marijuana every day. Goodwin also said his wife uses every day."

With those two sentences, an investigation and a political firestorm were 
launched.

Deputy Chief Ken Leendertse says Sutthery was absolutely obligated to 
notify the CAS.

Not to do so would be neglect of duty under the Police Act and would 
violate the Child and Family Services Act, which says if someone believes a 
child "may" be in trouble, a person "shall" report the concern to the CAS.

"This is not a political issue for us," Leendertse says.

"This is not us abusing our authority."

Once that report was filed, the CAS was obligated "to explore the 
allegation that the child may be at risk," says executive director Dominic 
Verticchio.

For the CAS, the concern with the Goodwins was that both parents may be 
getting high at the same time, leaving Baby Christian without a responsible 
adult to take care of him. The issue of second-hand pot smoke or the fact 
that Chris and Melissa engage in an illegal activity every time they light 
up is not the concern of the CAS, says Verticchio.

The social worker who went to the Goodwin house found "the child was doing 
well, the parents were interacting with the child appropriately," says 
Verticchio. But the CAS must still get a good review of Christian's health 
from the boy's doctor before closing the investigation.

Chris and Melissa say they don't smoke pot in their home in front of their 
son and they never both smoke to the point of "impairment" at the same 
time. They do smoke up once the baby has gone to bed or outside on the back 
deck during television commercials.

And they've used marijuana in front of Christian at the beach and a pro-pot 
rally.

The couple disagrees on whether second-hand marijuana smoke is bad for 
Christian's health. Melissa smoked pot while she was pregnant, although she 
did cut back a little from her usual amounts.

But after her son was born with a congenital heart defect that required 
surgery when he was just five days old, she decided he shouldn't be exposed 
to any smoke -- cannabis or otherwise.

Chris is less concerned about the effects of second-hand pot smoke on his 
son, saying studies don't prove it's harmful.

Chris says the only reason, really, that they don't use marijuana in front 
of their son all the time is because they don't want to be perceived as bad 
parents.

I don't know what goes on at the Goodwin house when nobody's watching.

I don't like the thought of a child being exposed in any way at any time to 
pot smoke, but I feel the same way about cigarettes.

And I don't know if the police are treating Chris Goodwin -- who has been a 
thorn in their side since he opened his cafe a year ago -- fairly or not.

But what I do know is that a seven-month-old baby shouldn't become the core 
of a public debate on marijuana.

He shouldn't be used to bolster anyone's arguments or be paraded or 
targeted to serve anyone's agenda.

There shouldn't be pictures of him on a Cannabis Culture website.

There shouldn't have to be debates about him on radio talk shows.

And this column shouldn't wind up in Christian Goodwin's baby book.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman