Image copyright AP Image caption Currently, Chileans are allowed to consume marijuana in private, but it is illegal to sell or grow the drug. 
 
 A Chilean mother says a hospital is restricting her access to her newborn baby because she said she smoked marijuana. 
 
 Sindy Melany Ortiz said she smoked pot for medicinal reasons to alleviate pain in one of her arms. 
 
 She says she is not being allowed to breast-feed her daughter and can only see her for two hours a day. 
 
 Hospital officials in the southern city of Talcahuano said they were following protocol and the baby was at risk. 
 
 "They have violated my rights as a mother," said Ms Ortiz, "I use this drug only for the pain in my arms, it was recommended by a medical professional to me and I am absolutely not a drug consumer." 
 
 "They started to ask me if I smoked or took anything and I told them. When my daughter was born they said she would stay a little with me but I couldn't breastfeed her because I had consumed marijuana which is bad for the baby." 
 
 The hospital said it had alerted a local court that tests had found substances that could harm the child. 
 
 The court has ordered that the baby remain in the Las Higueras hospital until it takes a decision on Thursday. 
 
 In July Chile's Congress approved by a wide margin a bill that seeks to decriminalise personal use and cultivation of marijuana. 
 
 The law, if passed, currently allows the possession of up to 10g of cannabis and the growing of up to six plants. 
 
 It is being seen as a way to stop the persecution of medicinal users and to allow them to access a medicine they can grow in their gardens. 
 
 Santiago, Chile's capital, was the site of Latin America's first medical marijuana farm earlier this year. 
 
 Chile's marijuana bill will move to the full Chamber of Deputies before passing to the Senate, a legislative process that could take years. ||||| SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A Chilean mother says a hospital is restricting her right to see her newborn daughter because she acknowledged smoking marijuana days before she gave birth. 
 
 Sindy Melany Ortiz says she smoked pot to alleviate pain in one of her arms. She says she's only allowed to see her daughter two hours a day and isn't allowed to breast-feed her. 
 
 Hospital officials in the southern city of Talcahuano say they were just following protocol when they alerted a local court that tests found traces of substances that could put the baby at risk. 
 
 The court ordered the baby to remain at the Las Higueras hospital until it takes a decision during a hearing on Thursday. ||||| CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Hollie Sanford's decision to use a marijuana-based tea to lessen her labor pains had a devastating result she didn't expect. 
 
 A Juvenile Court magistrate ordered the healthy baby girl whisked away from Sanford more than two weeks ago, contrary to the advice of county workers who said it would be harmful to take the newborn from her parents 
 
 A court hearing where the baby was ordered to be taken was scheduled with less than 24 hours notice, Sanford said. 
 
 It blindsided her and her husband who had cooperated fully with a county worker who visited their Cleveland home after she and the baby tested positive for a bi-product of marijuana after the birth at Fairview Hospital on Sept. 26. 
 
 Sanford understands that her choice to use the tea instead of prescribed pain medication for pregnancy-related pain and nausea could be considered controversial and that she would be judged harshly by some. 
 
 "Everyone is entitled to their opinions," she said Sunday as she nursed the chubby-cheeked 6-week-old baby named Nova, who was placed to live with a relative. 
 
 "If people want to say I'm a terrible parent, that's their right. I did my research and I felt like what I was doing was safe. I know in my heart that I'm an excellent mother. What happened should not have caused my baby to be taken from me." 
 
 Attorneys for Sanford and Cuyahoga County Children & Family Services have asked that a judge overturn Magistrate Eleanore Hilow's decision so Nova can be returned to live with her parents and brother Logan, who's almost 2. 
 
 The county had only asked only for "protective supervision" so they could watch over the family to make sure Sanford followed through with a promise not to use marijuana, according to court records. 
 
 "There is no need to remove this child from her parents' in order to protect her," an assistant county prosecuting attorney wrote in a motion filed on Oct. 23. "At this time, removal would only serve to disrupt the bond the child would develop with her parents during this important period in her life ... Rather than protecting the child, removal may be more harmful to her both in the present and in the future." 
 
 Attorney Joseph Jacobs said Hilow didn't bother to understand that it was a metabolite of marijuana, a non-psychoactive substance, that was found in the urine of the mother and baby. It's a molecule that remains in the system after marijuana use that crossed over through the mother's placenta, he said. 
 
 "It's still illegal," he said Hilow responded, disregarding the judgment of the professionals who had visited the Sanford's home and evaluated the case. 
 
 "It's outrageous," Jacob said. "The decision has no basis in law or science. There was no harm done to this child other than the removal from her mom and dad." 
 
 Jacobs said that under Ohio law, the decision to remove a child on an emergency basis requires proof of "immediate or threatened physical or emotional harm." 
 
 He called Hilow "ill tempered" and said her "punitive decisions" were wreaking havoc for families across the county. 
 
 Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court spokeswoman Mary Davidson said the court declined to comment on the case. Hilow could not be reached. 
 
 Hollie Sanford said she has already agreed to do everything the county caseworker asked, including drug testing and even drug treatment, if needed. She said a second drug test she took was already negative. 
 
 "I said I'd do anything they wanted to get my daughter home," she said. 
 
 Though she says she's an occasional marijuana user and advocate for its claimed medicinal qualities, she said she is not an addict. 
 
 Sanford said she used marijuana tea to relieve pains and other symptoms during both of her pregnancies after finding some research to the effect that it is safer than narcotics or other over-the-counter or prescription medicines. Her son also tested positive for it at birth, prompting a call to children's service. But he was not removed. 
 
 Sanford said she opted for a tea, rather than smoking marijuana, to avoid carbon monoxide exposure, which could be considered a health risk for a baby. 
 
 "I hope if marijuana is legalized people will open their eyes a little more," said Sanford, who supports efforts in Ohio to legalize the drug. Marijuana is legally available in more than 20 states, though federal law still prohibits the sale of the drug. 
 
 Although the current situation has been emotionally difficult, the Sanfords are grateful her cousin offered to take in Nova so the baby didn't end up in foster care with strangers. 
 
 Both parents still get to hold her each day, and Hollie has driven in the middle of the night to help soothe her daughter when nothing else has worked. 
 
 "She really just wants her mom," Sanford said. 
 
 Daniel Sanford, a supervisor at Cleveland's Horseshoe Casino, said the situation has harmed the entire family. Sanford said he was treated like a ghost during the court hearing. 
 
 After he was told he made too much money to have a lawyer appointed for him and told the one he'd hired already could only represent his wife, Hilow refused to reset the hearing so he could have his rights protected, he said. His job prohibits drug use, so he's already randomly drug tested. 
 
 "It's a devastating situation," he said. "But we are getting through it." 
 
 Children and Family Services has appealed or requested stays in numerous cases in front of Hilow and her supervising Judge Thomas F. O'Malley, spokeswoman Mary Louise Madigan said Monday afternoon. 
 
 "We are disappointed that this jurist regularly makes rulings disregarding the agency's professional opinion and the opinions of other professionals in the courtroom, include guardians ad litem and other child welfare experts," she said. 
 
 "We will continue to work with this family, which is committed to reunification."
– A mother in Chile claims a local hospital is keeping her away from her newborn daughter simply because she smoked marijuana a few days before giving birth, the AP reports. "They have violated my rights as a mother," the BBC quotes Sindy Ortiz. "I use this drug only for the pain in my arms, it was recommended by a medical professional to me, and I am absolutely not a drug consumer." According to the AP, Ortiz says the hospital is only letting her see her infant for two hours per day and won't allow her to breastfeed her. This is all standard protocol, according to the hospital. The hospital states it was required to alert a local court when Ortiz tested positive for substances that could be harmful to her baby, the AP reports. The hospital is maintaining custody of Ortiz's daughter, at least until a hearing scheduled for Thursday. According to the BBC, Chile's congress easily approved a bill to decriminalize the personal use of marijuana earlier this year. But it could still be years until the law is put into place.