HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

Pregnancy and Addiction: Should the State Mandate Treatment?

Views: 974
Darienne Dykes smiled as she thought about her 5-month old son, Phoenix. "He's everything to me," says the 21-year-old Nashville resident. "Being a mother is just the most amazing experience." Wiping tears from her eyes, she continued, "I definitely regret continuing to use drugs during my pregnancy."

In continuing to use drugs during pregnancy, Dykes is not alone. The number one cause of death in Tennessee is drug overdose, surpassing the number of vehicle accidents fatalities in 2013. And pregnant women aren't immune from addiction: approximately 900 babies were born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) in the state last year, a ten-fold increase from a decade ago. NAS is caused when mothers continue their opiate or narcotic drug use through pregnancy; babies can usually be weened off the drug within a few weeks after birth and there are no known long term effects.

However, Tennessee officials have declared NAS an "epidemic" and took action this past July with the implementation of Public Chapter 820. The law makes it possible for a woman to be charged with assault for the use of a narcotic drug while pregnant if her child is born harmed by the drug. An assault conviction is punishable by a fine and anywhere from one to 15 years in prison. So far, around 9 women have been charged under this law. The law has been controversial, with opponents saying it's counter-productive to put a drug-addicted mother in jail.

Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich, a strong proponent of the law, says the law does not intend to lock up these women. Instead, she believes the law is more like state-sponsored "motivation" to seek treatment.

"What we hope to do is to get these women help for their addiction," says Weirich, explaining that the women have the choice to go through drug court and complete rehabilitation instead of being processed through the regular criminal justice system. Once treatment is successfully completed, says Weirich, the charges would be expunged from their record.

However, a 2005 GAO report concluded that up to 70 percent of all drug court participants do not complete the treatment programs—and if the program is not completed, then jail time is the consquence.

Weirich and the co-sponsor of the bill, state representative Mike Carter, expressed concern for the newborn babies and a desire to help the addicted mothers. However, Thomas Castelli of Tennessee's American Civil Liberties Union, says threatening these mothers with the criminal justice system doesn't help when there's not enough drug treatment facilities to begin with. There are only 19 facilities in the entire state that offer rehabilitative care to pregnant women, and these are mostly centered in populated areas, leaving rural women with the burden of driving long distances to attend treatment. For many of these lower-income, single mothers this is logistically difficult. And there are only two facilities in the state that offer prenatal care and allow a woman's pre-existing children to accompany her to treatment–another logistical necessity for many of these women. This shortage in treatment facilities has resulted in long waitlists ranging from a few weeks to a few months. Due to the new law, this waitlist can mean the difference between freedom and imprisonment for a preganant woman.

Furthermore, Dr. Jessica Young, leading doctor at Vanderbilt's Drug Dependency Clinic for pregnant women, says the new law will encourage women not to seek prenatal care for fear of being arrested. Weirich disagrees, saying the law explicitly says the babies have to be birthed before legal action takes place and "we're not talking about police sweeping into OBGYN offices and arresting women who have a hot urine screen when they go in for their six month prenatal check-up."

But Young counters, telling CNN, "Pregnancy is often a really motivating time for these women to get their lives turned around, so we really have a critical time to work with them. This is a population of women who are already scared. They’re already very distrustful in general of authority and the medical establishment and it takes a long time for them to build up trust. So this bill will make that harder."

Castelli argues that the law not only will prove to be counterproductive but is unconstitutional. "It violates the 8th amendment. The Supreme Court back in 1962 determined that it would be cruel and unusual to punish people for having a status or having an illness," he says. The case, Robinson v. California, concluded that the state's law which criminalized being a drug addict was unconstitutional. Castelli argues that this law does the same thing.

Produced by Amanda Winkler. Narrated by Alexis Garcia. Additional help by Zach Weissmueller.

Runs about 6 minutes.

Go to reason.com for downloadable versions and subscribe to ReasonTV's YouTube Channel to receive notifications when new material goes live.
@ReasonVidsfollow
Thumbnail for Congress Makes Christmas Come Early! Did Uncle Santa Bring You a Gift?1:34
Congress Makes Christmas Come Early! Did Uncle Santa Bring You a Gift?
ReasonVids
845 views
Thumbnail for A New ‘War on Terror’ Would Be Just as Disastrous as the Original8:45
A New ‘War on Terror’ Would Be Just as Disastrous as the Original
ReasonVids
977 views
Thumbnail for Will Charlie Lynch Avoid Prison For Legally Operating a Medical Marijuana Dispensary?3:49
Will Charlie Lynch Avoid Prison For Legally Operating a Medical Marijuana Dispensary?
ReasonVids
875 views
Thumbnail for Putin busting some moves2:07
Putin busting some moves
Gviduser
429 views
Thumbnail for Anyone Care About Economic Liberty Anymore? George Thomas on the 14th Amendment10:14
Anyone Care About Economic Liberty Anymore? George Thomas on the 14th Amendment
ReasonVids
830 views
Thumbnail for More useful than a nigger0:14
More useful than a nigger
AOUisgay
481 views
Thumbnail for Starbucks vs. the Little Guy3:53
Starbucks vs. the Little Guy
ReasonVids
885 views
Thumbnail for Cops Against the Drug War: Jerry Cameron of LEAP6:06
Cops Against the Drug War: Jerry Cameron of LEAP
ReasonVids
856 views
Thumbnail for Should we blast a giant hole into Mars? | Cody'sLab6:54
Should we blast a giant hole into Mars? | Cody'sLab
invidious
347 views
Thumbnail for You Don't Even Know How Long We Waited For It3:59
You Don't Even Know How Long We Waited For It
bestofvoatxyz
769 views
Thumbnail for Why Texas is Booming: How Low Taxes & Small Government are Transforming the Lone Star State8:05
Why Texas is Booming: How Low Taxes & Small Government are Transforming the Lone Star State
ReasonVids
981 views
Thumbnail for Should the Government Break Up Big Tech? A Soho Forum Debate1:24:26
Should the Government Break Up Big Tech? A Soho Forum Debate
ReasonVids
764 views
Thumbnail for Cheech and Chong - Mexican Americans / Beaners3:41
Cheech and Chong - Mexican Americans / Beaners
bestofvoatxyz
646 views
Thumbnail for Immigrants DREAM on: Neither Obama nor Romney will help you2:37
Immigrants DREAM on: Neither Obama nor Romney will help you
ReasonVids
879 views
Thumbnail for Sleeping baby swans 0:34
Sleeping baby swans
bestofupgoat
93 views
Thumbnail for Female climber freaks out as frozen dead bodies slide down mount Everest 1:00
Female climber freaks out as frozen dead bodies slide down mount Everest
bestofupgoat
414 views
Thumbnail for The Worst (Or Is That the Best?) Obama Tchotchke0:16
The Worst (Or Is That the Best?) Obama Tchotchke
ReasonVids
843 views
Thumbnail for Stalking Jefferson's Moose: David Post's New Book Might Just Blow Your Mind.8:50
Stalking Jefferson's Moose: David Post's New Book Might Just Blow Your Mind.
ReasonVids
775 views
Thumbnail for Ep. 2566a - The World Is Now Feeling Inflation, [CB] Panicking, Losing Narrative | X22report15:04
Ep. 2566a - The World Is Now Feeling Inflation, [CB] Panicking, Losing Narrative | X22report
bitchute_topics
992 views
Thumbnail for Soy Lives Matter!0:27
Soy Lives Matter!
AOUisgay
476 views
Thumbnail for What's Wrong with American Politics? "Of By For" Director Christopher Kay9:51
What's Wrong with American Politics? "Of By For" Director Christopher Kay
ReasonVids
1039 views
Thumbnail for P.J. O'Rourke, R.I.P.3:39
P.J. O'Rourke, R.I.P.
ReasonVids
969 views
Thumbnail for Popp Reads 50 Shades of Grey| Popp Culture14:10
Popp Reads 50 Shades of Grey| Popp Culture
Terrence Popp
2540 views
Thumbnail for Uber and the Great Taxicab Collapse7:44
Uber and the Great Taxicab Collapse
ReasonVids
929 views

points

Permalink
Reply
pregnancy (disease or medical condition), addiction (quotation subject), health (industry), police (film genre)
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle