Baby Ate Cannabis Oil As Dad Bagged P

A baby ate a cannabis oil capsule while her father was in the kitchen with his friends bagging up methamphetamine, a court has heard.

The 11-month-old's young mother last week pleaded guilty to a charge of ill-treating/neglecting a child under the age of 18 at Napier District Court.

Judge Geoff Rea made an interim order suppressing the woman's name with the matter to be revisited at sentencing next month.

Last July, after a 20-minute run to the shops for milk formula, the woman arrived home to find her daughter alone in the lounge and vomiting green foam, a summary said.

Her then partner - the child's father, who minded the child while she was out - was busy bagging up methamphetamine in the kitchen with several associates. The mother wiped green tar from around her baby's mouth and nose and retrieved a plastic capsule from her mouth.

"She knew straight away that her daughter had eaten a cannabis oil cap," the summary states.

The drugs had been left on a chair by one of the associates.

Not sure if she should call an ambulance, the woman took advice from one of the associates who said the baby would be okay and "would just sleep it off".

After ordering the child's father and his friends to leave, the woman allowed her daughter to fall asleep in her arms before they both went to bed. She awoke at about 9pm to her daughter vomiting again and with a high temperature.

The woman first tried phoning the child's father and his friends before dialling 111 nearly 20 minutes later.

The ambulance arrived within seven minutes, but the woman did not confess her daughter had eaten cannabis oil. She also chose not to tell hospital staff, the facts state. About five hours later the woman revealed to her stepfather drugs had made her daughter sick, before also coming clean to hospital staff.

The woman said she "wasn't processing things at the time ... she didn't want to get in trouble".

She told police she called the ambulance with concerns her daughter would die. The woman also told police although she did not take drugs around her daughter she had been a regular meth user at the time of the incident and had taken the drug the previous night.

On recovery, the baby was put into the care of her grandparents. The woman's lawyer said Child Youth and Family were also involved.

The New Zealand Drug Foundation's website states three main products are derived from cannabis, cannabis oil described as the most potent.

The woman was remanded until April 17 for sentencing.

nzherald.co.nz