Drug abuse left kids neglected

Parents’ synthetic cannabis abuse left children in home with little food and no power 
Stuff co.nz 5 November 2018
Family First Comment: The harms of drugs – all drugs. Marijuana. Synthentic drugs….
“There had been a lack of food in the house for long periods, the prepaid electricity in the home often ran out and the defendants had been using cannabis and its synthetic equivalent. The children were aware and disclosed that the majority of their household money was spent on drugs rather than on food for the family.”
#DrugFree2025
www.SayNopeToDope.nz

A couple spent the majority of their household income on drugs, leaving their two children with little food in a home sometimes without electricity, a court was told.

The man and woman, from Taranaki, have each pleaded guilty to two charges of ill treatment/neglect of a child under 18 years of age between August 2016 and June 2018.

The defendants cannot be named in order to protect the victims.

The neglect case came to light in June 2018 and was precipitated by an argument the man and woman had over their relationship issues and “not pot” – the common name given to synthetic cannabis.

The police summary of facts outlined how the male defendant moved out of the house and days later the children left as well to stay at another address.

Both children were spoken to by a specialist police interviewer on June 13 where they disclosed there had been a lack of food in the house for long periods, the prepaid electricity in the home often ran out and the defendants had been using cannabis and its synthetic equivalent.
READ MORE: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/108369244/parents-synthetic-cannabis-abuse-left-children-in-home-with-little-food-and-no-power