Family Law & Cannabis Alliance (FLCA) announces groundbreaking legal network

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Family Law & Cannabis Alliance (FLCA) announces groundbreaking legal network

October 14, 2014 — Family Law & Cannabis Alliance (FLCA), a national nonprofit organization providing information on Child Protective Services (CPS), family court, and marijuana — and home of the Fifty State Profiles Project — is proud to officially launch its groundbreaking legal network, available at no cost to attorneys and to families throughout the United States.

Even in states where marijuana is now legal, decriminalized, or approved for medical purposes, parents, guardians, patients & caregivers around the country are facing scrutiny from the child welfare and family court systems, which often equate use of marijuana by a parent or guardian as child abuse or neglect and use it as a basis to limit parental rights.  “Marijuana use does not make someone a bad parent,” said Sara Arnold (a.k.a. Sahra Kant), co-founder of Family Law and Cannabis Alliance. “It should not be the primary or sole basis for any CPS investigation.”

The only one of its kind in the country, FLCA’s legal network includes a confidential internal database of family law attorneys who work on or are willing to work on Child Protective Services and family or juvenile court cases (including child custody) involving the use of medical or recreational marijuana by a parent or legal guardian, or medical treatment of a severely ill child.  FLCA’s advocates regularly screen inquiries from individuals and families and make referrals to local attorneys in the network for legal advice.  FLCA supports legal network counsel by providing expert consultation, help obtaining affidavits and expert testimony, scientific and public health research to supplement briefs, and other assistance on family court cases or administrative proceedings.  FLCA also offers model language for marijuana reform legislation and ballot initiatives.  Although donations are accepted, all services are provided at no cost to lawyers or clients.

“If you’re arrested for a cannabis crime, finding a lawyer to represent you is fairly simple,” said recent law school and public health graduate and FLCA co-founder, Jess Cochrane. “Getting help while facing CPS or a custody battle is a lot more complicated—until now.  FLCA’s legal network connects capable family law attorneys with parents and pregnant women in need all over the country, and provides up-to-date, expert consultation on rapidly-evolving marijuana laws and their intersection with child welfare policy.”

About Family Law & Cannabis Alliance:

Family Law & Cannabis Alliance (FLCA) is a clearinghouse for reliable local, state, and national information related to marijuana policy, Child Protective Services (CPS), and family court.  Particularly in an era when public opinion and policy regarding marijuana are rapidly evolving, we believe that it is wrong to punish parents who use cannabis medicinally or recreationally by exposing them to CPS investigations and temporary or permanent loss of custody of their children. Marijuana use is not proof of poor parenting and should not be used to separate families or subject them to unnecessary state intervention.

FLCA provides non-legal advocacy and advice, as well as legal referrals, to individuals facing CPS and family court actions. We offer educational information to other professionals, students, and members of the public; assistance, interviews, and quotes to the media; speakers and panelists to conferences, rallies, universities, meetings, and other events; and articles and papers on commission to offline and online publications.

Please contact Sara Arnold at media@flcalliance.org for more information on this press release.  For more information on FLCA and its mission, please see http://www.flcalliance.org/, go to http://www.flcalliance.org/for-lawyers/ to become an early adopter of FLCA’s legal network, and check us out on social media on Facebook and Twitter at @flcalliance.

http://flcalliance.org/media/press-releases/legal-network-launch-oct-2014/

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