Even as marijuana – medicinal and recreational – is increasingly legalized across North America, the laws haven’t yet caught up with regard to the kinds of responsibilities people have when it comes to using the drug while children are in the house.

While people of legal age can drink in front of children, others are less understanding when it comes to pot smoking.

But because of the potential for second-hand smoke and impairment, very few people want their children around when they’re indulging anyway.

One Vancouver mom is trying to explain to people that smoking a joint after the kids go to bed is no different than indulging in a glass of wine or two.

Caitlin Fladager began her post on the website Love What Matters defiantly, saying:

“Yes, I have two kids. Yes, I smoke weed daily.

It’s so funny to me how frowned upon marijuana is. No one looks twice when a mom says she enjoys ‘mom juice,’ aka wine, after her kids are in bed. But when a mom says she smokes weed, it’s a huge shock.

I talk about this to bring awareness. I feel as not enough people talk about this. Marijuana has helped me so much, especially when it comes to being a mom.”

She points out that some of the benefits she gets from weed are that it helps her calm her anxiety, get some sleep, and prepare herself for the following day so she can hit the ground running and be a better mom to her kids.

“I have never been the most patient with my two kids. Weed makes me a better mom, as I get a good night sleep after I smoke. I wake up well rested, and with a more clear mind.

It’s okay to smoke weed after your kids go to bed.

It’s okay to smoke it to help with anxiety. Mine has been SO much better since I started smoking.”

Fladager has also struggled with being underweight and insists that weed not only keeps her mellow and happy but healthy as well. She’s been able to achieve a normal weight and treat her depression.

Her main point is that there’s very little difference between smoking pot and drinking. And she would know since she admitted to having a drinking problem that her pot-smoking habit has alleviated to some extent. She called marijuana her “glass of wine” or her “can of beer.”

“You can still be a kick-ass mom, and smoke weed,” she said.

Fladager also chronicles her motherhood and mental health issues on Instagram where she’s received a lot of support for her post, with many moms chiming in to insist that pot has even fewer detrimental effects than alcohol.

More and more organizations are helping parents navigate their freedom to smoke pot (at least in some part of the U.S. and Canada) with their concern for their children. They are afraid of being labeled neglectful even though many parents who have admitted smoking once their children go to bed are always sure they could respond to an emergency if one came up.

In another post, Fladager defended her decision to post her opinion, even after receiving some criticism, reminding people that recreational marijuana use is completely legal where she lives:

“Just like a liquor store, you can walk in and grab a joint. ⁣⁣And I only smoke when the kids are fast asleep, tucked in for the night. This to me, is my glass of wine after a long day and the kids are asleep…This to me is a perfect night spent with my husband while we laugh, watch friends, and eat junk food together…There is so many stigmas around weed, and there are many things it can make you. ⁣⁣Happy, relaxed, hungry, giggly, sleepy. ⁣⁣But what it doesn’t make you, is a bad parent.”

For now, it’s a personal choice and not yet a thorny legal issue. And it’s hard to argue that partaking in a perfectly legal activity in a responsible manner is doing harm to children who don’t even know it’s happening

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Source: Love What Matters, @caitlinfladager via Instagram