A video posted to Facebook that appears to show a toddler smoking a joint has sparked a Chicago police investigation, a police spokesperson confirmed.
In the 12-second video a young child, dressed only in a diaper, is seen sitting on a children's chair holding what appears to be a marijuana cigarette. He puts the cigarette to his mouth and a plume of smoke comes out.
That's when a man off-camera instructs the child to "smoke bro, inhale it." He then says, "do this" and then is heard making a deep inhaling noise. At which point the child puts the cigarette back to his mouth and puffs again.
"Let me hit that, ok?" the man says just before the video cuts out.
The Chicago Police Department confirmed to BuzzFeed News that its Area South Detectives Special Victims Unit was investigating the video and that no arrests had been made. The investigation is open and ongoing, a spokesperson said.
Community activist Andrew Holmes turned the video over to cops on Wednesday night and provided the clip to NBC Chicago. According to NBC, at the time that Holmes retrieved the video from Facebook, it had more than 500 likes and 1,200 comments.
"This is sickening," Holmes told NBC. "It's disturbing to hear the adult that was in the background to let them hit it and they're telling the child to inhale."
Anyone who may recognize the child or the man's voice in the video is urged to contact the Chicago Police Department.
WARNING: This video contains disturbing images.
