The Case of Samantha Jones: In 2018, a nursing mother in Pennsylvania made national headlines when her infant, Remington, died from ingesting a combination of fatal drugs through her breastmilk. According to the coroner's report, Remington died from a combination of methadone, methamphetamine, and amphetamine toxicity. The Bucks County District Attorney charged the mother, Samantha Jones, who also has a two-year old child, with criminal homicide. According to published reports, Jones was undergoing Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) and receiving doses of methadone to treat her addiction to opioid painkillers. Multiple commentators swiftly voiced opposition to the District Attorney, decrying the criminal charges against Jones, arguing it is "highly problematic" to levy criminal charges against a person undergoing treatment for Substance Use Disorder. Approximately one year prior to Remington's death, law enforcement found Jones - who was pregnant with Remington at the time - passed out in her vehicle with her other child in the backseat. During that incident, police charged Jones with endangering the welfare of a child and driving under the influence (DUI). At that time, Jones was similarly intoxicated under the influence of methadone, methamphetamine, amphetamine, and the antianxiety medication Clonazepam. According to media reports, the court dropped part of the charges and sentenced Jones to a period of house arrest with an order to continue drug treatment (she was already enrolled in drug treatment.) This case represents broader questions woven in into treating pregnant and parenting patients with SUD: Is the criminal justice system merely punishing people for addiction? Who should be held accountable for such tragic outcomes against the most vulnerable members of society - infants and children? Do people with addiction retain any choice over their actions? And lastly, what is the significance that Jones continued to engage in polysubstance abuse despite receiving Medication Assisted Treatment? supportive of :

State laws should require reporting the mother to CPS if the physician has evidence that she is engaging in habitual substance abuse. If she does not discontinue substance abuse, or enroll in treatment, the law could facilitate a civil commitment procedure. Or, alternatively, if she refuses or leaves treatment, she could face criminal charges. (Generally, drug court mandates treatment by law instead of incarcerating minor offenders.)

Respond: Choose one argument listed above. Did you agree or disagree with the points raised in the position? Why? Or, advocate for a different standard. Explain your reasoning.

This post should should be about 350-500 words in length. You will be graded on organization of the answer, integration of the week's readings (including relevant legal terminology), and your ability to coherently articulate a position. Please use paragraphs, spacing, and punctuation, bold terms, underlined terms, etc. to make your answer clear and easy to read.I encourage responding to your classmates' posts and creating conversations around each topic while being mindful of professional netiquette.