Woman accused of forcing son to smoke in `lesson`

Elizabethton: An East Tennessee woman has been charged with forcing her 5-year-old son to smoke a cigarette. A Carter County deputy told the Johnson City Press that a 24-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday night on charges of child abuse and neglect, disorderly conduct and possession of marijuana. A jail officer said the woman was being held on a USD 12,500 bond. Jail records did not show if the woman hired a lawyer. Deputy Cory Tidwell said that in response to a complaint by a witness he stopped the woman in a car and she told him she had forced her son to smoke a cigarette because "she was teaching him not to smoke."

Tidwell also said he found a small bag of marijuana in the car. Bureau Report