Tuesday, December 15, 2015

NCCPR op-ed at Reuters.com: A new epidemic of hype won’t help ‘drug-dependent’ infants


Every few years we are told about a new “drug plague” in which the drug use of pregnant women supposedly dooms their children – unless, of course, we take the children away. The media said it about crack, and they were wrong. They said it about methamphetamines and they were wrong. Now there’s a new epidemic of hype around pregnant women who use drugs both legal and illegal, from heroin to prescription painkillers. Those stories are wrong, too. ...

Whenever we try to take a swing at “bad mothers” the blow lands on the children. We know there are better answers — and if we really care about the children, we’ll turn to those answers instead. 

Read the full column on the Reuters opinion page here.