Mothers and Illicit Drugs: Transcending the Myths

The Researcb Objectives I* INTR3IZU6TIOk' Since the criminalization of drugs in rhe early twentieth century, there has been a proliferation of research concerning illicit drug use in Western society.However, the majority of this researck describes L f l i c i r : drug use by males, and women are rarely included in research designs.When included, women E---z been predominantly discussed as immature, sexually promiscuous, immorai, pathological, and more deviant thar, men s Inciardi, Lockwood, & Pottieger, 1993; Stevenson, Lingley, Trasov, & Stansfieid, 19563.illicit drug use is deemed iAlcompatible with sexual viri~e, mzzherina and family values.These are the cultural values women are supposed to embody and protect in North America (Rosenbaum, Murphy, Irwin, & Watson, 1990, p. 2).Critical researchers, who emerged in the 1960s, transformed the study of illicit drug use.The movement from perceiving the "addict* as a criminal to examining how legal and social definitions define the illicit drug user both symbolically and directly stems from their research.Consequently, the impact of the law, morality and race and social.constxuction of the line dividing licit and iificit use was revealed.Nevertheless, little informarion is available that analyzes the social and economic environment of women, and ear:y critical research did nor include a gender analysis.However, by the 1970s the impact of feminism began to inform social science research per-aining to the role of pharmaceutical compar.iesand %heir gendered prescribing of legal drugs.I n addition, the f i r s t echographic study on women heroin users was published i n 1981 (Rosenbaum, 1981).Since the 198Qs, s o c i a l science research has moved from a concern a b ~t female i l l i c i t drug users t o a concern about rhe developing fetuses of women who use illicit drugs.Katernal drug use.assessment of r i s k and the treatment, . .c p -z t a * ifin and ~~, n , r r ~l . of wayway6 mothers have i&enLiif i2af i'-rJs, -rwf --pvtr u--become central to conservative and l i b e r a l research on i l l i c i t drug use.However, neither conservative nor l i b e r a l paradigns offer solutions for underlying problems associated with c l a s s , 5-ode:-and race.I n addition.the negative impacc of t h e medical and social service professions and or' dr;;g legislation an women whcr use illicit 6mgs is ignored-The majority of social science research concerning maternal drug use has emerged from the USA.where legal sanctions pertaining ro presatal exposure t o i l l i c i t drugs have been put in place.I c addirion, social science research exploring prenatal programs and maternal care i n Europe has rrawsfomed the discussion of maternal drug use.European stdies illuminate the differences becween research findings ..--in the USA a ~d i n co~eqtrier; tbt have different socioeconomic The Research Study.: A view of women who use i l l i c i t drugs ?"o date there is no information in Canada about haw mothers who use i E P i z 9 t drugs view the agencies of law, social sewices and the medical profession.Nor has there been any critique by mothers of the services provided to them and their children.This research provides qualitative data regarding women who use illicit narcotics in Canada, focusing on their opinions regarding the law, medical and social service policy and regulations that affect their lives.It also provides a feminist analysis' of the literature and explores society's it brings foxvaxd the opinions of mothers who use illicit drvgs concerning the medical, treatment of adult women and their newborn infants, Canadian narcotics laws and the effects of treatments, in addition to providing data on the role of social services in relation to intervention and to the apprehension of children.A n Integrative Approach The tradition. of using sociologicai ethnography and profiles of "criminal careersw in describing illicit narcotic use tends to separate the researched from the researcher and nltimeely to separate the researched from society.The h A f e m i n i s ~ analysis and perspective is theory culminating in practice that places women in the zenrre ~f discourse, enphipsizing "the importance of sex, race and class as factors which toqether determine t h e social ccnstrucCion of EemBeness* (hooks, 1989, p, 23) See Chapter 5 of this study, AFrom Theory to Methodm for a more thorough discussion of feminist analysis a d perspective.professionals outside of the criminal justice system.The data chapters present : h e research findings on the views of rhe women interviewed in relation to the medical and social service professions, and drug treatment services.Chapter t e n presents research findings on formal social controls t h r o u g h the criminalization of specific drugs.The final c h a p t e r presents a summary of the thesis and policy directions.C3bUIPTEK 2 -Literature R e v i e w and Theoretical Framework: P a r t 1993, p .224) .leaf emxains I4 drugs, cocaine being only one of thera.The other drugs in coca ofzen appear to modify .thestiaulating effect of cocaine.Coca leaves alsa contain vitamins and minerals (Weil & Roser,, 1993, p . 4 4 ) .Organic drugs seem generaLly to be less toxic than synthetic drugs, and have l e s s potential for abuse (WeiP & Rosen, 1993) .Isof ating active pricciples from drug plants and creating sPthetic drugs has led to the emergence of a pharmaceutical industry interested in more potent and purer drugs that may have yore potential for abuse.It appeaxs that synthetic drugs made in laboratories f e -g ., Valium) may be the most difficult ones with which to fom good relationships.Weif and Rosen (19.93) note the difference becween chewing coca leaves and injecting cocaine.The coca leaf rareLy contains more than 0 -5 percent cocaine (Weil & Rosea, 1993, p. 311.In contrast, refined cocaine can be 100 percent pure !Weil & Rosen, 1993, p. 311.Eowever, the use of organic plants, rather than refined and pure drugs, is perceived as *unscientificm fWeil & Rosen, 1993).In addition, organic drugs such as marijuana, opium and cocaine are described in Western society as "bad drugs" originating from 6evePoping third-world countries !Boyd, 1991).Cocaine The coca glans, has grown in South America Frjr r h s i s a n d s af years dAlexiinder, 1990; Weil & Rosen, 1993).As mentimed above, cocaine is isolated from the coca Peaf.The coca Peaf is s r i l P used by millions or' indigenous peoples in South a r i c a as a szimclant and medicine.Traditionafiy, one chews the c w a leaf, swaEBows the juices, and spits out the f eaves.By the late 1800s the: use of coca i n tonics and wine became popular in Europe and 330rtf.aAmerica (Weil & Rosen, 1943).Cocaine was isola~ed f r o m the coca leaf during %his time and used a s the firsz local anaesthetic.Doctors prescribed c x a i n e for many mediFcaE problems.I t was not until the 1900s s h c $he use of coca and cocaine was criminafized in Canada.Since the 298 s, the media and medical literature have reported an increase in cocaine use in the ?reparation of crack, which is simply cocaine powder cooked in a bicarbonate of soda solution [Chewng, Erickson, & Landm, 1991 ; Waf dorf , Weinarman, & Murphy, 39913 -Crack has been described as the SIC addictive drug on earth.Crack addiction is purported to haye reached epidemic levels-Crack i s said ts have a "disinhibiting and degrading effect" on people flnciardi et d m , 1893.p -71) and to ~T&UCE! a "release of normal i b i t i m s art behavior, incf uding sexual behaviors" Inciardi elr a -1993, p -961 .H o w e v e r , early research demonstrates t-3at casual use of cocaine (nor including its use i n the form of eraark) is the nam WaHdaxf et af ., f 977; Reinarman, 19793 .Later research has noted that 20 percent of the mer, and women in a Canadian seu* repaned aun~ontrullabie"i urges co e ~n k i m e using cocaine after ingestion on some occasions; however, contrclled use continued to tse recognized as tne norm (Erickson, Adalf, Murray, & Smart, 1987, p. 107).Cocaine users (including crack users) employ a host. of strategies to monitor their drug use.Consequently "the desire for cocaine did not overpower users' concerns with family, health, and careersm [Waldorf et al., 1991, p. 251).Cheuag, Erickson, and Landau 11991) note that crack use is not mnecessarily compulsiveH and that perceptions of "risk of c a m " shape individuals' patterns of use.In addition, unlike many U.3. studies of crack use (see Inciardi et al., 19931, a Canadian study of *m~Jerate crack users" demonstrates that crack users are similar to users of powder cocaine with respect to sociodemographic characteristics (Cheung, Erickson, & Landau, 1991; After reviewing the literature on cocaine, Alexander fP9901 notes that cocaine is no more addicting than many other dmgs and that there is no cocaine epidemic in Canada.Alexander and his colleagues have more recently demonstr2ted in their British Col.JmOia study of recreational and addicted cocaine users that crack is not ffinstantly addicting." They have &so shown that cocaine use does not lead to a deviant and dangerous lifestyle (Matthews, Dawes, Nadeau, Wong, & APexmder, 1995) .People have a wide range of responses to cocaine use and there is rtr\ uniferm progressien of use.The majority of cocaine users are successful in maintaining unprsblemat~c and controlled use (Waldorf et aL., 19911.By far t h e s t serious deleterious effects of bef z 9 g a narcotics addict --.roday are t h e risks of t --3 risonment.infectious disease, and F er -all racea able to the narcotics laws, to W ~~E O U S e~forcemem of those l a w s , and co the zcesultirrg; excessive blackmarket prices for nazcctics fE972, g -2 2 ) .infringement rights, Research Fhhuminates bow the real evil of illicit: drug use is not the drug Itsea5 but the way society s e e k s to regulate and control illicit drug users (Waldorf & Reinarman, 1975).Earl.);U .S , studies also broadened the discussion of illicit drug use to

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