Jacek Lentz criminal defense attorney

An aspect of the war on medical marijuana, perhaps its most barbaric and savage – I am not using the adjectives here lightly, I do honestly think they are appropriate – are child endangerment charges which can be part and parcel of prosecutions for cultivating marijuana. Worse yet – for no clear purpose benefiting them--your kids can be taken from you and your spouse. I call it child abuse.

Take the case of Ronald Naulls and his family for example. Ronald - a church-going family man who sustained serious injuries in a 2001 car accident and used medical marijuana to ease chronic pain – established the Healing Nations Collective in Corona, Riverside County. By all accounts, Healing Nations was a model professional medical marijuana collective in full compliance with state law and contributing significant sums to various local and and national cancer organizations. Regardless, the dispensary and Ronald’s home were raided by the DEA on July 17, 2007.

Never mind the gratuitous show of intimidating force – the DEA shotguns, automatic rifles and even helicopters. Never mind the fact that everything, and I mean (almost) EVERYTHING, was seized from the collective and Ronald’s home. Get this - among the items confiscated were Ronald’s three little girls ages 1, 3, 5. They were taken by the County Child Protective Services to a confidential foster home. It is not necessary to stretch one's imagination to immediately know the serious trauma inflicted upon the girls. In addition, Ronald's wife and the girls' mother is facing child endangerment charges.

This is child abuse pure and simple - by the Child Protective Services, not the Naulls of course. When the parents were finally allowed to visit their children the eldest of the three girls has reportedly said, "Mommy, we're ready to come home now, we promise to be good." Imagine the anguish on the part of the girls, not to mention their parents.

While the absurdity and notoriety of the Naulls family story stands out, it is by no means unique. There is definitely something special about Riverside County where the law enforcement and social services do not seem to hesitate to engage in a war on families and their children in conjunction with war on marijuana plants. I have personally represented two families in Riverside County in cases where child endangerment charges were gratuitously added to charges of illegal marijuana cultivation. In one of them a small child was taken away because there were about 5 small marijuana plants growing in the backyard, allegedly in close proximity to a children’s swing. Both situations involved green fresh plants growing in the backyard or a garage and no evidence that marijuana was smoked or burned when children were present. The point here is that the idea that raw marijuana plants present any child endangerment risk is pure mediaval superstition and ignorance. Everyone knows (or should know) that marijuana releases no toxic materials unless heated or burned. There have been studies showing that potatoes are more toxic than marijuana.

The criminal child endangerment charges, in the Naulls family and similar cases, should eventually be dismissed, assuming the case is handled by a good attorney and there are no special aggravating facts. Also, Riverside County does have a number of honorable prosecutors who understand that their job is to do justice and get it that the harm and injustice has been done. However, the trauma and the emotional and financial toll on the families and children often can not be undone.

Donations to help the Naulls family can be made through the Green Aid organization at http://www.green-aid.com/defensefunds.htm. Additional information can be obtained from James Anthony, the attorney who is pearheading the fundrasiing efforts, at www.mcdlawyer.com.