NCJ Number
169245
Date Published
1998
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This chapter attempts to refute claims about the use and effects of crack cocaine.
Abstract
The crack baby scare was greatly sensationalized on the basis of some very preliminary observations. The presumed connection between being born on crack and later learning and behavioral problems has not materialized. A multitude of studies have shown that the effect of prenatal cocaine exposure is minimal at birth and is probably limited to minor growth deficits. Complications such as severe learning deficits or emotional problems are more likely the result of being raised in poverty. As for drugs' effect on the fetus, the worst is alcohol. To correct other misconceptions about crack cocaine, the article notes that: (1) Crack babies do not account for the surge in Attention Deficit Disorder in the schools. An estimated 1.1 percent of mothers used cocaine during pregnancy, while the Attention Deficit Disorder in schools is between 5 and 10 percent; (2) Crack is more addictive than powder cocaine not because it is purer, but because the delivery system is faster; (3) The crack epidemic is not an African-American phenomenon. A 1994 survey showed that, whereas approximately 2.8 million whites had smoked crack by the end of the survey year, only about 782,000 blacks had done so. Table