Filed
6:00 a.m. EST
02.18.2026
The Marshall Mission discovered 70,000+ allegations of being pregnant drug use referred to regulation enforcement, typically primarily based on unreliable drug assessments.
A latest Marshall Mission investigation revealed that state baby welfare companies shared allegations of being pregnant substance use with regulation enforcement greater than 70,000 occasions over a span of six years. These allegations are sometimes primarily based on unreliable drug testing at childbirth, which may return false positives as a lot as half the time.
Claims of being pregnant drug use led new moms to be interrogated of their hospital rooms, arrested by police and charged with offenses that carry sentences of as much as 10 years in jail. Police eliminated newborns from their mother and father’ custody because of false positives triggered by prescription drugs, widespread meals like poppy seeds and authorized CBD gummies.
Referral practices fluctuate extensively relying on the state. In Oklahoma, one in each 24 births resulted in a regulation enforcement referral, The Marshall Mission discovered. In the meantime, in Massachusetts, one in each 5,298 births was referred.
Use the instruments beneath to discover the info and insurance policies in your state. Scroll to the underside to be taught extra about our methodology.
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Washington D.C.
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
In Alabama, the state’s baby welfare company accepted at the very least 3,403 studies of alleged substance use throughout being pregnant over six years. It’s unclear what number of had been referred to regulation enforcement as a result of the federal program that collects the info didn’t present it to The Marshall Mission. States usually are not required to report this info.
Youngster welfare officers mentioned counties have their very own agreements with native police and district lawyer’s places of work about what baby abuse and neglect studies are shared with regulation enforcement. Referral practices fluctuate throughout the state.
We spent a yr gathering and verifying this knowledge with state and federal companies, and we’re making it accessible to the general public for the primary time. We’re additionally publishing summaries of kid welfare insurance policies, which we fact-checked with state officers, explaining what circumstances result in a regulation enforcement referral. You possibly can be taught extra about our reporting course of and obtain the info on our methodology web page.
If you’re a journalist or researcher all in favour of investigating the results of hospital drug testing at childbirth, we’ve designed a reporting toolkit with free knowledge visualizations, a FOIA template, recommendation on discovering impacted sources, and an interactive instrument so folks can search for the insurance policies and knowledge of their states. Should you’re all in favour of studying extra, you may fill out this way to schedule a session.
