Under new law, state can’t take kids away solely for parental cannabis use

A single mother of six, Ms. B worked hard to change the circumstances that cost her the custody of her children.

Her kids desperately wanted to return to their mom, her attorney Natasha Khalfani testified in the Maryland General Assembly in 2022, not revealing her client’s name. Three of the children were being cared for by their father, while the oldest three were placed in foster care. The case stalled for years in court, long after Ms. B was deemed fit to regain custody. What kept her file open was a past positive cannabis test, even though she was going through substance abuse treatment.

In the meantime, two of her kids “declined rapidly” while in foster care, Khalfani said, as do many children of color when separated from their parents. The bill Khalfani and other advocates were pushing for — their third attempt ― would have prevented the harm and damages Ms. B endured by spelling out that Child Protective Services could not separate families solely because the parent used cannabis, Khalfani said at the time.

The Maryland legislation, signed by Gov. Wes Moore earlier this year, went into effect the day cannabis became legal for recreational use in July. It’s a step in the right direction, advocates said.

But family law and cannabis activists are still pushing through a “legal war and a cultural war” for broader change, said Erin Miles Cloud, co-founder of Movement for Family Power, which works to end what it calls the foster system’s policing of families.