CANNABIS USED TO PACIFY BABIES

Some dope-smoking parents are using cannabis to pacify their babies when
they will not stop crying, a practice which is alarming drug counsellors.

Margaret Manuka-Sullivan, manager of addiction services in Hawkes Bay, said
the practice was being used by a small minority of parents, but she feared
it would become more common.

She had dealt with six cases where parents had used cannabis to calm their
children in the last 18 months.

But she believed the problem was far more widespread.

That was because the only way the service could detect cases was when
parents who were referred to for treatment admitted what they had done.
"Often it's a way for them to cope with the stresses of parenting," Ms
Manuka-Sullivan said.

Cannabis was often more readily available than other more responsible
methods for calming noisy children, she said.