WATCH: Viral video of baby smoking sparks social media outrage

Picture: YouTube screenshot

Picture: YouTube screenshot

Published Mar 23, 2018

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Washington - A video of a baby smoking a small cigar outraged social media users this week, who alerted North Carolina authorities and helped them identify the 20-year-old mother.

Brianna Ashanti Lofton is charged with two counts of felony child abuse and possession of marijuana, Raleigh police said in a news release. It is unclear where the video originated, when it was posted and whether the substance the child was smoking was marijuana.

A police warrant obtained by the News & Observer, however, accused Lofton of "causing, encouraging and aiding a one-year-old child to smoke a marijuana blunt" on Dec. 1, 2017. Police could not be immediately reached for comment.

Some followers shared screenshots of the video and the link to the mother's Facebook page on the department's page, while others posted comments such as "Can you make an arrest on the girl that is making her BABY smoke weed? Something needs to be done about that."

"Thanks to your willingness to get involved, the child is now safe and the mother is in police custody," police said.

A version of the video posted by a user who called for the mother's arrest had received 1.5 million page views, according to the Associated Press. The 10-second video showed an adult-off screen holding what appears to be a small cigar in the infant's lips. The child makes a cooing noise and appears to inhale before releasing a puff of smoke.

The Washington Post

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