Saturday, March 17, 2012

NORML Women's Alliance Calls for Grand Jury Investigation in to Child Custody Policy

The NORML Women's Alliance has been putting boots on the ground across the country, bringing women together to fundraise, strategize, and raise consciousness about how marijuana prohibition is affecting families.

Now, the local NWA group in Butte county California, in alliance with the national office and Butte County residents, has called for the Grand Jury of Butte to investigate the County Children Services Division, including a financial audit.

The Press Release from NWA links to a video I've been calling "Hear This and Weep," recorded the day medical marijuana grower Daisy Bram's two children, aged 15 months and three weeks, were taken away from her. The children were held by Butte County CPS for more than four months.

A few days after NWA filed its grand jury request on March 9, Daisy had charges re-filed against her. Tamara Lujan, NORML Women’s Alliance Community Leader for Butte County, said, "We can come to no other conclusion except this is a retaliatory measure, from the Butte County DA’s office.” Butte has an extraordinarily high rate of permanent removal of children, according to a report from the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform.

Women (and men) can join the NORML Women's Alliance by entering their email addresses at www.norml.org/women, where information about forming a local affiliate can also be found. NWA members in California can join California NORML and get their quarterly newsletter for $15.