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 CLEVELAND, Ohio-- A local mom thought she had made the best decision for her baby while in utero by choosing medicinal marijuana to treat extreme sickness and pain, but now she and her husband have lost custody of the infant. 
 
 Hollie Sanford said she was suffering from extreme, debilitating morning sickness and sciatic nerve pain when she began researching the tea. 
 
 She said doctors wanted to prescribe opiates for the pain but she was worried about becoming addicted and worried about the impact on her fetus. 
 
 She and her husband, Daniel, decided the tea was a safer and more natural option. 
 
 “We did the research and THC, the psychoactive element, doesn’t reach the baby after it’s metabolized through my body,” said Hollie, “So it’s not like the baby is stoned like people might think.” 
 
 Their little girl who they named Nova was born healthy and alert September 26, but soon their happiness was shattered. 
 
 Attorney Joseph Jacobs, who is representing the Sanfords, said a drug test was wrongfully performed on the baby at Fairview Hospital. 
 
 He said the screenings are run when public assistance or Medicaid is paying for the hospital services but the hardworking Sanfords are not on public assistance and have private insurance. 
 
 “They never even asked us,” said Hollie, “They tested my baby’s diaper with the meconium stool.” 
 
 A urine sample was negative but the meconium stool, which is composed of materials from inside the womb, tested positive for a bi-product of marijuana. 
 
 Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services got involved immediately, despite court records documenting a “normal delivery” and that the baby was “very healthy at birth.” In addition to that, records show there was "no evidence the child was exposed to THC or suffered from withdrawal.” 
 
 Daniel Sanford said none of that seemed to matter at the hospital. “The case worker came in and said 'you guys can leave, but you can not take your daughter.'" 
 
 The couple was able to get Nova placed with a family member with the help of their attorney as they continue to fight the custody battle in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court. 
 
 They said Magistrate Eleanore Hilow wouldn’t listen to evidence involving the tea or to case workers who recommended the baby stay with her parents. 
 
 Court records show Hilow determined “removal necessary," citing “immediate or threatened physical or emotional harm.” 
 
 Attorney Jacobs filed an immediate appeal requesting an immediate/ emergency custody hearing to return Nova to her parents. 
 
 He said even CCDCFS workers testified that it would be more harmful than good to take the infant away from her parents. 
 
 Fox 8 reached out to the courts about the case but have not received a comment. 
 
 A hearing date isn’t scheduled until December. 
 
 In the meantime, Hollie and Daniel said they are visiting Nova every day, trying to build and maintain a nurturing parental bond. 
 
 “It’s very hard. We’re just trying to be optimistic and count our blessings; that's what keeps us going,” said Hollie. “I do not have a dependency issue. I am not addicted to marijuana as has been clearly shown with my clean drug tests.” ||||| 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."
– Ohio voters failed to legalize medical marijuana Tuesday—a law that could have prevented what's now happening to Hollie Sanford and her family. The Cleveland mom tried to alleviate extreme morning sickness and sciatic nerve pain during her pregnancy by drinking marijuana tea, a substance she tells Fox 8 she thoroughly researched and determined was safer than other alternatives. "THC, the psychoactive element, doesn't reach the baby after it's metabolized through my body," she says. "So it's not like the baby is stoned." But when her daughter, Nova, was born "very healthy" on Sept. 26, per court records, the infant was given a drug test—a test the Sanfords' lawyer says was taken without the parents' consent. The baby tested positive for a non-psychoactive byproduct of marijuana and was ordered removed from her family by a Juvenile Court magistrate, who said there was "immediate or threatened physical or emotional harm," the Plain Dealer reports. Who's on Sanford's side: the county child services department, which says it only asked for "protective supervision" and that taking Nova "would only serve to disrupt the bond the child would develop with her parents," per a motion filed by an assistant county prosecuting attorney. The department also notes that it often battles Eleanore Hilow, the judge who threw the gavel down, for "rulings disregarding the agency's professional opinion and the opinions of other professionals in the courtroom," per the Plain Dealer. Sanford's lawyer agrees, calling Hilow "ill tempered" and with a rep for "punitive decisions." In the meantime, Sanford hopes her baby will be back home soon. "If people want to say I'm a terrible parent, that's their right," Sanford tells the paper. "I know in my heart that I'm an excellent mother." Nova is now with a family member, who was allowed to take the baby in so she wouldn't have to go to foster care; a hearing is set for December, per Fox 8. (A breastfeeding mom refused to stop smoking pot.)