C’mon moms, admit it: aren’t you sometimes tempted to slip illegal drugs into your kids’ school lunches? You know, just to help them relax a bit or, alternatively, give them a little boost of energy when they’re dragging in the midday? No? Then it must be Torina Gutierrez who’s crazy as all hot hell. The Texas mother of one is accused of sprinkling angel dust, also known as PCP, across the meat in her daughter’s sandwich. The heck?
As a result, the poor 6-year-old was walking around having hallucinations and talking to herself at school. When teachers confronted her to find out what in the world her malfunction was, she told them that her sandwich had “tasted like fireworks.” A little digging around for details about the homefront revealed that both she and her mother were positive for PCP.
This is one of those cases where Child Protective Services actually come off as heroes. They have since taken the little girl from her mother, which I’m sure is traumatizing for her. But it can’t be more traumatizing than a mother knowingly lacing her first grader’s food with illegal drugs, even if mama is on drugs herself. There are plenty of drug abusers raising children—much to our chagrin—who still don’t directly impose their habit on their kids. I mean, the kids may be suffering for any number of other reasons, but sabotaged food is a new one.
This just goes to show once again with big ol’ neon flashing letters: not everyone is equipped to be a parent. But the scary part is, they can usually pop out as many little ones as they want to. Biology and civil liberty make them unstoppable.
Fortunately, her daughter is OK and the effects of her little involuntary acid trip were short-term. With her child in a safe place, Gutierrez is facing up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine. I’m not sure if that’ll hit her hard enough to make her kick her habit or turn her life around, but it’ll certainly give her plenty of time to think about the stupidest parenting mistake ever.
Do you think the children of known drug abusers—even functional ones—should automatically be removed from their homes, no questions asked?
Image via Chiara1001/Flickr
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Comments 35
Isn't it strange that the only one who says a druggie can function and think normally is the drug addict!!
lol, I work with about 5 pill poppers and I tell you what, they are the fastest workers we have. Luckily none of them have kids. It all depends on the drug and why they use. People would probably be surprised by how many people are actually druggies. There's a reason for all these parents taking their children in to be evaluated for ADHA, Ritalin is the "on the go moms" best friend. And please don't think I'm saying all "on the go moms" are pill popping, but there are more then what most would think.
Bonnie no where did I see Angelique say that their thinking was normal, she said function and there is a difference. If you have a daily routine like, snort some blow, get kids up for school, snort some more, go to work, snot some blow, make dinner, then pop some Valium for bed, there doesn't need to be much thinking. And whats normal anyways. A lot of non drug usuers have fucked up thinking. To call Angelique "the drug addict" because she had issues with it in her past is a very inconsiderate. Four years clean and sober is a huge accomplishment for recovering addicts and the fact that she went out on a limb to even admit that on this site is commendable. You don't know her past and the issues she was facing. I could understand the name calling if she said, "shit, I used to give my kids drugs and they turned out fine". Walk a mile in someones shoes before you judge. I for one would like to say congratulations to Angelique and keep up the hard work. Ok I'm ready for the bashing.
Thank you, wormspoop! So many people think they've got it all figured out but EVERYBODY has some kind of habit. Maybe it's coffee, or cigarettes, or alcohol, those three are legal. For some, they have an addiction to prescription drugs and those are legal, too, if you know how to bullshit a doctor into prescribing them for you. Some people it might be overdoing it on working out, or on the opposite end, overeat. Everyone has a habit, yes, some are worse than others, but not everyone can kick their habit. For someone to come on here and bash on someone who openly admits that they are a recovering drug addict with four years clean (FOUR YEARS) is just rude and makes me want to reach through the computer screen and smack someone! My stepmother is an alcoholic with over 5 years sober, and I know that she still has days when she wants to just dive headfirst into the bottle but she DOESN'T do it. SIGH I don't even know why I bother, people on this site are assholes and don't want to hear anything unless it matches what they think.
This is horrible and this woman deserves to lose her child, but there are a lot of people who use drugs or drink recreationally, on their own time, and still are wonderful parents. What an adult does, as long as they are not hurting anyone, should not be anyone's business.
I too have to congratulate Angelique as well. 4 years is something to be very proud of. I know what it is like to have a child and doing drugs, and will admit I could not function while doing it. It took a massive wake up call to stop cold turkey because I had someone who was dependant on me. I have been 5 years clean and each day is a battle. Maybe someone should have taken my child away from me. But, I do know for a fact that not all foster families are better for the child. One, they take the child knowing they are getting paid to take them, who's to say they don't do drugs themselves or harm the child worse than the parent? Two, as much as we like to think there are a lot of foster families out there, that is not true. There are just not enough foster families. And I also have to agree with butterflyfreak, everyone has some kind of habit. Biting nails, smoking, coffee, shopping, eating, you all get the point. I am a smoker, I smoke outside away from my kids, does this mean I should have my kids taken away because I do smoke? But in this case, yes take the child from the home, get the mother the help she needs so they can reconnect later when the mother is sober. I hope she is able to stay sober, it is the hardest thing to do.
I have a huge addiction to reading books. Sometimes dinner gets on the table late, sometimes I ignore my kid because I'm reading, sometimes I just need my reading fix and am not emotionally availiable. Does my kid need to be taken away?
Yes the children should be removed..in my experiene being a white kid growing up in the ghetto..a functional drug user is just a junkie waiting to happen..there is no such thing as a functional drug user..just some people can abuse drugs longer than others before hitting rock bottom..Even if there were such thing..drugs alter the mind and affect judment and thinking..They shouldn't be incharge of keeping children safe and cared for PERIOD
I worked in an emergency foster care facility ( it was a place where children were taken supposedly until they were either returned to their parents or foster homes became available) it was horrible. We had children who had been there for quite a while. The place made sure they were clean and fed but they were not treated well. Unfortunately, there were not enough foster homes available in my state so some of the children were basically permanently housed there.
If we actually had enough good foster families available, no child should be left with drug using parents but that is not the case and sometimes the place the chldren are taken to is worsre than their home environment. No in the case of the child in this story obviously but for many children foster care is not a good situation.
A drug is NOT a drug is NOT a drug. And an addiction is NOT an addiction is NOT an addiction. Every drug (alcohol too!) is different. Every addiction is different. Plenty of functional alcoholics and drug addicts should keep their kids. Most especially with marijuana use. I, personally, think that marijuana users, even wake-n-bakers, are more benign than any other type of drug user (once again, including alcohol!). This woman, OBVIOUSLY, should NOT keep her kid.