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Mindless Save

I know and like Costco's poppy seed salad and was quite taken aback to read this story where said salad brings a woman who has just given birth a ton of grief. 

Horton didn’t realize that she would be drug-tested before her child’s birth. Or that the poppy seeds in her salad could trigger a positive result on a urine drug screen, the quick test that hospitals often use to check pregnant patients for illicit drugs. Many common foods and medications—from antacids to blood pressure and cold medicines—can prompt erroneous results.

She tested positive for opiates and the wheels of the system aiming to protect her infant from the substance abusing mother began to turn fast

The hospital quickly reported her to child welfare, and the next day, a social worker arrived to take baby Halle into protective custody.  

It seems a life-changing, cataclysmic decision to separate a mother from her new-born and have the welfare system take over the baby right after birth. The reason for such action should be unimpeachable to say the least. To use a test with a 50% false positive rate for decision-making is shocking and bizarre. It is almost like the real aim is to keep the welfare organization up and running no so much protect the baby. Lawyers stand to benefit from a system that is so mindlessly punitive. 

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