Two Idaho Women Arrested For Blowing Marijuana Smoke In Toddler’s Face


Two women were arrested on Monday after they posted a video of themselves online blowing marijuana smoke, or what appears to be marijuana smoke, in a toddler’s face. The incident happened in a home at the Fort Hall Indian reservation in southeastern Idaho.

Investigation Discovery’s CrimeFeed reports that the disturbing video depicts two women sitting on a couch, with a young boy who appears to be around 2 to 4 years old sitting in between them. As the women laugh and smoke what appears to be a joint, one of them moves close to the toddler and attempts to blow smoke directly from her mouth into his face. The boy attempted to shake his head and back away, apparently displeased with smoke being blown in his direction.

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At one point, the same woman, dressed in a blue T-shirt and navy-blue shorts, held the joint in her mouth and again blew smoke into the toddler’s face, while the other woman and two unidentified people, including a man wearing a white tank top who also took “hits” from the joint, laughed and teased that the boy was “high.” A female voice is heard saying, “He’s all tripped out now.” Another woman said,

“No more getting high, he’s all blazing it now.”

Around a minute into the video, the man in the white tank top shirt tried to pass a small joint to the little boy, while a female is heard giggling about the incident in the background. So far, the women’s names who were arrested remain undisclosed while Idaho police search for the other adults. Fort Hall Police Chief Pat Teton indicated that since the case is in an ongoing investigation status, the names of the suspects can’t be released yet.

The video almost immediately garnered massive hits, and with that came numerous complaints. One Facebook user wrote that she reported the video to the Fort Hall Police Department, while a number of other Facebook users expressed sadness and concern over the child’s well-being. The video was taken down shortly after.

Dr. Gary Ullery, a Blackfoot pediatrician, spoke with the Idaho State Journal about the incident and said that children exposed to second-hand marijuana smoke may have similar health problems as children exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke. A current study indicates that children exposed to marijuana smoke may have the potential to cause long-term auditory and verbal problems, as well as respiratory issues. According to Ullery,

“It’s pretty sad….We don’t know the exact long-term effects of that exposure, but the assumption is the outcome can’t be good. We know that secondhand cigarette smoke is one of the leading causes of ear infections. Children who have chronic ear infections tend to suffer from hearing and speech problems.”

Although the results of the study are still unclear, Ullery expects additional studies on children and marijuana smoke to follow, given the increase in popularity of marijuana in the U.S. in general.

“We will know. The kids will be exposed to it more and more and we’re going to find out.”

Earlier this year, the Children’s Hospital of Colorado warned that there would be an increase in children being exposed to marijuana. The hospital also pointed out that although the topic is still understudied, there have been instances in which children exposed to recreational marijuana have experienced seizures, respiratory issues, and even coma, although it rarely occurs.

The two women arrested were charged with endangering the welfare of a minor child, and booked into the Fort Hall Justice Center, according to Teton. Authorities are still working to find the two other people in the room. Anyone with information on the incident should call the Fort Hall PD at 208-238-4000.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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