NCJ Number
170566
Date Published
1996
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article attempts to forecast the impact of maturing crack babies on law enforcement, other criminal justice components, social services, and police interaction with the educational system.
Abstract
The United States experienced an epidemic of crack cocaine use in the mid-1980s. As many as 375,000 babies per year are estimated to have been exposed in utero to illicit drugs. Crack cocaine was the drug of choice for most pregnant female substance abusers. Many of these women gave birth to babies who were premature, had low birth weights, suffered from chemical withdrawal, had tremors and seizures, hyper-irritability, gastrointestinal dysfunction, microcephaly, and many failed to thrive. Future problems connected with a maturing generation of crack babies may include: (1) expanding prison populations; (2) increased numbers of young sociopathic adults; (3) many young adults who are apathetic, uneducated, and dependent, and who will overwhelm a society not prepared to assist them; and (4) a juvenile court process, already overloaded, forced to deal with abused and abandoned youth who have become involved in crime. The article recommends several policies of potential use to law enforcement in meeting the challenge of maturing crack babies. Notes