The Effects of Crack Cocaine on a Developing Brain

"Crack" or "rock" cocaine is a more powerful form of cocaine created by "cooking" the powder form of the drug to extract its pure oil form. The high it creates is one of the most intense that drug users can experience. Smoked, its effects are felt almost immediately as it is smoked and go directly to the brain. Thus the drug has large psychological addiction potential; consequently, some expectant mothers continue to use the drug throughout their pregnancy.

Crack Baby

• The term "crack baby" became a widely used term describing babies born to mothers who smoked the drug while pregnant. These babies were typically described as displaying such behaviors as excessive crying and inability to sleep or calm down, and they required the constant care of an adult.

The Controversy

• The term "crack baby," although widely used even today, has fallen under scrutiny. The Chicago Sun Times reports that "the 'crack baby' phenomenon is overblown ... and the use of cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs while pregnant are just as likely as cocaine to cause developmental problems in children."

Alleged Fetal Impact

• Mothers who smoke crack while pregnant are putting their unborn child in terrible danger. Obviously, whatever the mother puts into her body, the baby does as well. The Clear Haven Center reports that crack's effects on the fetus result in "seizures or strokes, cerebral palsy (a lack of oxygen to the brain), vision and hearing impairments, urinary tract abnormalities, low birth rates, premature births and miscarriages." The major damage crack causes, however, is in the brain.

Alleged Cranial Impact

• Perhaps the worst damage crack cocaine causes to the fetus is its effect on the brain. Although the effects are not as severe as once thought, the fetus's brain, like his mother's, experiences the typical surge of dopamine the drug causes. Because the fetal brain is in an ongoing state of development, this can result in such conditions as psychological addiction, attention deficit disorders, lack of cognitive abilities and developmental problems.

Psychological Addiction in Newborns

• The term "crack babies" became a media sensation but has since proven to not be as accurate as once believed. According to the Schaffer Library of Drug Policy, the term crack baby is more of a myth. Although some babies are born addicted to the drug, it is not any more dangerous than alcohol or even cigarettes. This debate will continue as there are many documented cases of crack-addicted babies who have grown up and faced some learning, motor skill and overall altered brain function.

Conclusion

• Although there have been several cases where children born to mothers who abused crack later displayed conditions that created learning problems for them, the numbers are no more severe than those born with fetal alcohol syndrome or even those whose mothers smoked cigarettes. Regardless of which substance is more detrimental to the fetus, the most important thing an expectant mother can do is abstain from using chemicals that could be toxic to her newborn child.