A new report out of Etowah County, Alabama, reveals that a woman there was jailed for three months after admitting to smoking marijuana while pregnant. The type of law that led to her incarceration is not unique to Alabama, and such punitive laws don't achieve their goal of promoting healthy pregnancies.
According to Al.com's Amy Yurkanin, Ashley Banks was arrested on May 25 after being found with "a small amount of marijuana" and a pistol that she was not licensed to carry. She admitted to having smoked marijuana on the day she found out she was pregnant, which led to her being charged with the "chemical endangerment" of her fetus. Despite having a high-risk pregnancy, the fact that she had admitted to smoking marijuana while pregnant landed Banks in jail.
