NCJ Number
174953
Date Published
1998
Length
40 pages
Annotation
Federal drug control spending is assessed with a special focus on women; the report looks at alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among women from public health, criminal justice, impact on children, treatment, and prevention perspectives.
Abstract
Although the number of women and girls who use illegal drugs has risen sharply in recent years, they still represent a much smaller percentage of drug addicts in the United States than men. If binge drinking, smoking, and prescription drug abuse are also considered, however, millions more women are affected. Several recent studies have documented the "silent" epidemic of alcohol and other drug abuse that afflicts an estimated 31 million American women. Drug abuse by women has adverse effects not only on the individuals involved but also on children, families, and communities. Pregnant women who use alcohol and other drugs risk the safe and healthy development of their unborn children. Research continues to document the effects of neonatal drug exposure, including increased vulnerability to drug abuse as drug-exposed infants grow to adolescence. Modern economic realities have also created unprecedented changes for women as parents, employees, and community members. In the past decade, women have been incarcerated in unprecedented numbers, largely for drug offenses, and many women have been implicated in drug crimes through spouses or boyfriends. Dimensions of alcohol and other drug use among women and its effects on families and society are explored. The emphasis is on drug attitudes, drug use trends among teenage girls, drug prevention programs, the role of drug abuse in domestic violence and child abuse, pregnant and parenting women's programs, HIV/AIDS, drug treatment for women and their children, and the link between drugs and crime. References, tables, and figures