A pill

From the Palm Beach Post-

A father who told deputies he had just had his children released to him by the Department of Children and Families was arrested on suspicion of child neglect after his 3-year-old son ingested a powerful painkiller left out on the kitchen table while the father napped, according to arrest records.

St. Lucie County sheriff's deputies arrested Shane Allan Bass, 38, Friday afternoon. He faces charges of aggravated child neglect, child neglect and possession of marijuana.

Witnesses told deputies the three-year-old had been acting strange and bumping into walls before vomiting up a blue, 100-milligram morphine pill, according to an arrest affidavit.

Deputies roused a "groggy and disoriented" Bass when they arrived around 2:30 p.m.

Bass told them he had taken his medication and put his son down for a nap. He then lay down to take a nap himself, he told them.

Sitting on a closet shelf near the floor in an unlocked metal box, deputies found the morphine pills and marijuana.

Paramedics rushed the boy, who was conscious but unresponsive, to a local hospital along with his father, the affidavit said. Both were later discharged, according to a hospital official.

Bass was being held at the county jail in lieu of bail.

The first thing I thought on reading this story was- Has DCF and the Port St. Lucie police gone nuts?

Maybe the Post article isn't telling all the facts.(Maybe Mr. Bass had used the marijuana and that was at play here Does a child swallowing one pill by accident constitute a crime? I know its a pain killer, but shit happens.

Dear wife and I are godparents to a 4 year old boy called AJ. Yesterday AJ managed to take 4 children's vitamins at his home. The mother called my wife, she was a little rattled by what happened but the boy is fine. Actually AJ has been over at our house all today since around 12 noon.

If authorities found out what happened yesterday, would they arrest the mother and take AJ away? I admit to hammering DCF on a regular basis for not acting when a child is in danger, but I also feel the agency sometimes over reacts. God help innocent parents who get in the way of DCF after making an honest mistake. That goes the same for the police and prosecutors. Should a parent be charged after their child dies from being left in a hot car? That's trickier, I admit it. Tell me how you feel.

Linked to- Jo, Point Five, Stop the ACLU,