NCJ Number
137963
Journal
Journal of Drug Education Volume: 22 Issue: 1 Dated: (1992) Pages: 15-24
Date Published
1992
Length
10 pages
Annotation
A sample of 523 undergraduate students at Michigan State University completed a questionnaire consisting of eight scenarios depicting various degrees of maternal drug use during pregnancy. Four scenarios depicted cocaine and alcohol use, while the remainder involved use of aspirin, the prescription drug Accutane, and tobacco.
Abstract
The results showed that college students ranked the relative safety of the drugs used as well as a pregnant woman's culpability for the use of these drugs. Tobacco, alcohol, and aspirin were seen to be similar in their consequences to the fetus, while cocaine use was considered to be most dangerous and ingestion of Accutane least harmful. While 75 percent of respondents would favor imprisoning a cocaine-using pregnant woman, only 16 percent would do so for the use of Accutane. The 87 percent of the sample who believed the fetus was a child were more likely to regard the woman as guilty of child abuse and deserving of imprisonment. While drug education programs and the media have been very successful in publicizing the ill effects of illicit drugs on fetuses and moderately successful with regard to tobacco and alcohol use, they need to place more emphasis on the possible dangers of prescribed medications. 4 tables and 10 references