Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

JonLP24

(29,322 posts)
23. Crack babies are a myth
Mon Jun 22, 2020, 01:20 PM
Jun 2020

This is the kind of talk that lead to harsh crack cocaine laws even though it is chemically similar to powder cocaine which was used by the upper class in night clubs in the 70s.

----

No. The myth of the “crack baby” has persisted for decades, but studies have consistently concluded that pre-natal exposure to crack cocaine, which happens when a woman smokes crack cocaine while pregnant, has little or no effect on the long-term development of a child.

Exposure to cocaine (powder or crack) can slow fetal growth but the development of the brain and body catches up as these children grow up. It has not, as widely thought in the 80s and 90s, produced “joyless” or “unmanageable” children.

Poverty and the harms and stresses associated with it have a more significant impact on the physical and emotional development of a child than pre-natal exposure to cocaine. Children from nurturing and cognitively stimulating environments perform better, regardless of cocaine exposure.

https://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-facts/cocaine/pregnancy-crack-babies

I'm surprised teachers wouldn't be better informed on this. You never heard of "coke babies".

Interesting Mike 03 Jun 2020 #1
If cocaine was dumped, it had to be in the eighties. 5X Jun 2020 #2
I think in the movie traffic or crash they Baitball Blogger Jun 2020 #20
It was meant to raise money for the illegal armament of the contras in Nicaragua. Voltaire2 Jun 2020 #24
The 1980s, when Reagan was President is when it happened karynnj Jun 2020 #3
Also, didn't Congress give immunity to those who testified who should have gone to prison Hestia Jun 2020 #8
Yes, the main hearing did, but the earlier Kerry ones did not karynnj Jun 2020 #13
Bill Barr and roger stone. How do we close the Baitball Blogger Jun 2020 #21
It is amazing how they keep resurfacing! karynnj Jun 2020 #22
It was the 80's. ananda Jun 2020 #4
You do know they really don't exist but are labeled as such. Goes with the Welfare Queen memes. Hestia Jun 2020 #10
I taught the first wave of them JT45242 Jun 2020 #18
Crack babies are a myth JonLP24 Jun 2020 #23
I lived in Los Angeles during the entirety of the 80s. Mike 03 Jun 2020 #5
Remember reading movie budgets included major amt for cocaine bobbieinok Jun 2020 #12
It depends on the purity and percentage of the cocaine - anything, I think over 7% is addictive Hestia Jun 2020 #15
So much American history, that wouldn't have happen if not for complicity. Baitball Blogger Jun 2020 #25
In the 60s it would have been heroin JHB Jun 2020 #6
Same time they dumped in here in JA with the guns malaise Jun 2020 #7
It was the mid-80's when it was sold in rock form, aka crack. Hotler Jun 2020 #9
We really need a refresher course on this shit. Baitball Blogger Jun 2020 #26
80's and Ronnie Raygun. sarcasmo Jun 2020 #11
Snowfall on FX Johnny2X2X Jun 2020 #14
Ollie North was neck deep in this randr Jun 2020 #16
I was around in the early 70's and black folks were selling weed to hippies & friends, not coke. lark Jun 2020 #17
I remember reading that Hoover worked with the mafia to flood black communities with heroin in the jalan48 Jun 2020 #19
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»I'm trying to pinpoint th...»Reply #23