Research shows 'crack baby' scare was false

Big news in the 1980's

The research looked at 27 studies that covered nearly 5,000 teenagers who had mothers with cocaine habits when they were pregnant.

The findings show there was almost no proof of any long term issues for those kids.

The study did find laundry lists of problems with the teens like attention trouble, anxiety and general behavior.

Researchers think those may have been caused by ongoing drug use in the family, poverty and other related issues.

While the teenagers didn’t score as well on tests, the results weren’t far enough outside the range of normalcy.

Investigators told the Associated Press that, “The field of prenatal cocaine exposure has advanced significantly since the misleading 'crack baby' scare of the 1980's."

More here.