http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/520129/?sc=dwhn
University of Florida researchers found that disruptive behaviors in children actually seem to be linked more closely to maternal depression than prenatal cocaine exposure.
Newswise Toddlers exposed to cocaine before birth exhibit no more behavioral problems than other children their age, despite early predictions that "crack babies" would grow up to be delinquents, University of Florida researchers say.
Studying 3-year-olds exposed to crack and powder cocaine in the womb and a similar group of children who were not, UF researchers found that disruptive behaviors in children actually seem to be linked more closely to maternal depression than prenatal cocaine exposure.
"In all of the various outcomes we have looked at, people have expected very bad things," said Tamara D. Warner, Ph.D., a postdoctoral associate in the UF College of Medicine and lead author of the study. "These dire predictions were made about this group of kids. This study shows there really aren't the huge problems that we might expect."
The researchers found that mothers, on average, reported a high number of symptoms of depression, regardless of whether they used cocaine during pregnancy, according to findings published this month in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. Biological mothers also tended to report more behavioral problems than nonmaternal caregivers and foster parents, who were caring for about half the cocaine-exposed children by the time they reached 3.
"One might have expected that caregivers who took on children with prenatal cocaine exposure would've expected (more problems) and reported a higher number of problems," Warner said. "But that wasn't the case." [...]
More Compassion for White Drug Users?
http://www.blackprof.com/archives/2006/04/drug_treatment_and_punishment.html
April 24, 2006 Newsweek Reports"As the methamphetamine epidemic continues to ravage the country, some states are responding with a new innovation: "meth prisons" dedicated exclusively to inmates addicted to the drug. The Montana Department of Corrections just approved construction of two of theman 80-inmate unit for men and a 40-inmate unit for women. . . . By placing meth users in intensive treatment programs and isolating them from convicts who can teach them new criminal skills (like check forging), state officials hope to reduce high recidivism rates among addicts. "Just being in jail isn't going to fix this," says Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer. "Jail doesn't get the demons out." . . . The meth prisons are aimed not just at drug dealers and manufacturers, but also at those who commit crimes, like robberies, to feed their addictions. . . . Treatment will include group counseling, individual therapy and seminars on work, family and life skills."
The full article is here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12333791/site/newsweek/
According to a White House website, "white (11.4%) and Hispanic (9.1%) students were more likely than black students (2.1%) to report lifetime methamphetamine use. Of those convicted of a Federal drug offense for methamphetamine, 59% were white, 35.2% were Hispanic, 4.2% were of another race, and 1.6% were black." The same site reports that "Crack cocaine users tended to be young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 who lived in the central city and were usually from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Blacks were twice as likely as whites to be reported as the predominant crack cocaine user group."
Judge Greg Mathis has an interesting post on this entitled "Why Do Meth Addicts Get Treatment While Crack Addicts Get Prison Time?"
Bitch | Lab http://blog.pulpculture.org