Child Brings Mom’s Crack Pipe For Show-And-Tell

[katty]

more: http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2011/09/20/unique-show-tell-item-moms-crack-pipe/

SWEET SPRINGS, Mo. (CBS St. Louis) -- A recent show-and-tell at a northwest Missouri elementary school resembled something out of an episode of “Breaking Bad,” leading to the arrest of a kindergartner’s mother.

Michelle Marie Cheatham, 32, was arrested on Sept. 6 after her son pulled out methamphetamine and his mother’s crack pipe during a show-and-tell for his kindergarten class, according to

[Poll_Blind]

1. This makes me incredibly sad. n/t

PB

[katty]

2. it is truly sad, on so many levels

[chill_wind]

7. Me as well. Sad and sick.

Sad for the reality of what that child's living and seeing, and sick at the thought of how many more children living in the same reality. :-(

[CBGLuthier]

3. I have seen every single episode of Breaking Bad and that never happened

lazy ass reporter trying to seem hip or something.

[katty]

4. yeah, probably, +that's sad, too

[ZombieHorde]

8. I thought the same.

On a side note, Breaking Bad is one of the best shows on TV.

[SharonAnn]

13. It was more like "Winter's Bone".

[ET Awful]

5. If he pulled out meth and a pipe, wouldn't it be more likely to be a meth pipe than a crack pipe?

:shrug:

[Moosepoop]

9. That was my thought, too.

Get this -- according to the Probable Cause Statement attached to the Felony Complaint, the school principal showed the police chief "a crack pipe and several baggies of Crack Rocks, which later tested positive for methamphetamine..."

http://cbsstlouis.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/20110920_1417073.pdf

If the rocks tested positive for meth, then they weren't crack rocks, they were meth rocks (and the pipe wasn't a crack pipe, it was a meth pipe).

That is some sloppy wording for a legal document. It does explain where the article got its wording from.

[unblock]

12. just a guess, is sentencing different for meth pipe vs. crack pipe?

i'm also guessing that possession of either is a crime in and of itself, as opposed merely to evidence to support a possession of actual meth or crack charge.

prosecutors often go for the biggest conceivable charge as a "negotiating position".

i'm wondering if the eventually find even a trace of crack somewhere they get a bigger charge than if they only go after her for meth.

[Moosepoop]

20. She hasn't been charged with either kind of pipe...

The complaint only lists the charge of possession of the controlled substance itself, not the paraphernalia. She was also charged with endangering the welfare of a child, but that too is in relation to the drug, not the paraphernalia.

I'm no lawyer, but from what I can tell by looking at the Missouri state statutes, crack and meth do not carry separate penalties. They're equal when it comes to how a person is charged and in sentencing should there be a conviction.

[reggie the dog]

15. that may be enough to get her off

warrants usually have to specify a drug, ie a warrant for crack lets cops search and if they say only find weed and meth they can conficate but not charge you as the warrant specified crack, but that probably depends on what state you are in.

[Moosepoop]

21. I doubt it.

I don't know that there was a search warrant issued, there was no mention of one. It probably wasn't needed in the given situation. The Probable Cause Statement was not the basis for the request of a search warrant, it was the basis of the request for an arrest warrant.

My guess is that the "crack pipe" and "Crack Rocks" language originated with the principal who showed the items in question to the police. Testing showed the substance to be methamphetamine rather than crack, but still a controlled substance. The Probable Cause Statement was probably intended to convey the principal's (and perhaps the police chief's) initial assumption of the rocks, followed by the testing results, but it was still poorly worded (IMO).

[HockeyMom]

6. Makes me VERY MAD

I work with little kids. NO child should have to live like this.

[emilyg]

10. How sad for the child.

[Tace]

11. I Once Lived Upstairs From Coke Addict

His kids would play outside with baggies and pebbles from the garden. It was eye-opening.

[reggie the dog]

14. so is it a pipe to smoke crack or meth?

how can she have a crack pipe if she was found with methamphetamine? on the black market meth is so cut up that smoking crack is actually better for ones health, were they both legal and purity controlled they would pose a similar level of danger far less than the danger posed on the illegal black market,

at the same time my 3 year old knows that i smoke cannabis and she has passed me my pipe and jar of grass before when it was on the table in front of us but she isnt allowed to play with them nor take them anywhere and when i am not smoking they stay out of her reach, this mom should probably store her meth in a more secure area preferably with lock and key.

[Ex Lurker]

16. if she's a meth freak being safe and responsible are the furthest things from her mind

it's a far cry from smoking recreational weed.

[reggie the dog]

17. from what i see of "speed" here in france it is mostly women users

and mostly pill popping. that smoked or snorted meth stuff is popular in the uk and the usa but most speed in france is still pills except in the "raver scene" where you find meth "powder". i have heard that some people can use speed without getting hooked but have not been tempted to try it myself.

[Ex Lurker]

18. My mother was prescribed "diet pills" to lose weight after she had me

this was in the early sixties. She realized they weren't for her when she found herself scrubbing the kitchen at 3 in the morning.

[reggie the dog]

19. we have those same diet pills here in france today

or similar ones at least