Jail time for pregnant marijuana use

Women in Alabama who use marijuana (or a substance extracted from it) while pregnant are sentenced to jail.

It is important to teach that using drugs (including alcohol and tobacco) while pregnant can damage the fetus — for the sake of those babies that will be born. However, jailing a few unfortunate people is not going to deliver a message to a large fraction of the public. A less vindictive method could reach a lot more people with the same cost.

A national medical system providing universal prenatal care would cost more, but it would do a lot of good in many ways.