While treatment remains scarce for all people, women today experience more barriers to treatment than men. Women's use of and relationship to drugs is often affected by their experiences with domestic violence and their responsibilities for family and children. Women are also disproportionately affected by laws and regulations regarding drug use and welfare reform.
In the 1980's with the advent of the media created crack epidemic, women, particularly pregnant women became the target of punitive law enforcement efforts. Unsupported and misleading stories highlighting the effects of prenatal exposure to cocaine received widespread coverage. These sensational and often inaccurate news reports convinced many that the
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use of cocaine during pregnancy inevitably caused significant and irreparable damage to the developing fetus. Today, dozens of carefully constructed studies establish that the impact of cocaine on the developing fetus has been greatly exaggerated and that other factors are responsible for many of the ills previously attributed to pregnant women's use of cocaine.
Nevertheless, spurred on by the media barrage concerning pregnant women and drugs, legislators in the mid 1980s began introducing numerous legislative proposals addressing the subject. Today eighteen states have amended their civil child welfare laws to address specifically the subject of a woman's drug use during pregnancy. These laws vary considerably. In some...
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Women and the War on Drugs
