Ohio Mom Caught Giving Pot to 2-Year-Old

Comedian Bill Maher does a regular segment on his HBO show "Real Time" called "New Rules," where he distributes advice that should be obvious, but for whatever reason has escaped the public. Allow me to add a couple:

New Rule: Don't give pot to your 2-year-old. It's not good for them, it's not good for you, it's not clever and it's not funny. It's cruel and it's lame.

New Rule: Don't film yourself doing dumb, illegal things. Like making your 2-year-old smoke pot. You've already demonstrated that you're not capable of raising a child. Don't make that fact into a documentary of damaging evidence against you. Do you really think you're going to avoid somehow handing that tape over to the police after your inevitable arrest?

Now that we've dispensed with the Maher-inspired "New Rules," here are the facts of the case that inspired them:

Jessica Gamble, 21, has pled guilty to "corruption of another with drugs and tampering with evidence." Gamble recorded a video on her cell phone of her toddler was smoking a marijuana cigarette. At some point, she shared the video with someone else, who gave a copy to the state family services agency, who investigated the alleged child abuse.

Her attorney told the Associated Press that Jessica Gamble suffers from learning disabilities and mental health issues, including depression. He hopes she will be sentenced to probation.

In exchange for her plea, prosecutors dropped a charge of child endangerment. Child endangerment occurs when a parent places a child in a situation that threatens the health and safety of the child. She had faced up to 11 years in prison on the original charges and now faces a maximum of 6 1/2.

Related Resources:

• Ohio mom pleads guilty to giving pot to toddler (Washington Post)
• Drunk Mom Child Endangerment Case Celebration (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
• Abuse and Neglect Laws (FindLaw)