Cocaine 99perform at the lower end of the normal range, but pregnant women who use
cocaine also typically use hefty amounts of tobacco cigarettes and beverage
alcohol while failing to get proper nutrition and prenatal care. Such confound-
ing factors hinder scientists’ ability to measure what cocaine does to a fetus,
although persistent investigators are beginning to separate cocaine’s influence
from other factors. Even so, despite excellent theoretical reasons to suspect
that cocaine damages fetal development, those suspicions have not been con-
firmed. Nonetheless, cocaine is not considered safe for a pregnant woman to
use. Apparently cocaine enters human milk and can be passed to infants via
that route. A case report tells of an infant hospitalized for cocaine overdose
received from the mother’s milk.
Additional scientific information may be found in:
Brain, P.F., and G.A. Coward. “A Review of the History, Actions, and Legitimate Uses
of Cocaine.”Journal of Substance Abuse1 (1989): 431–51.
Gay, G.R., et al. “Cocaine: History, Epidemiology, Human Pharmacology, and Treat-
ment. A Perspective on a New Debut for an Old Girl.”Clinical Toxicology 8
(1975): 149–78.
Johnson, B., et al. “Effects of Acute Intravenous Cocaine on Cardiovascular Function,
Human Learning, and Performance in Cocaine Addicts.”Psychiatry Research 77
(1998): 35–42.
Lester, B.M., L.L. LaGasse, and R. Bigsby. “Prenatal Cocaine Exposure and Child De-
velopment: What Do We Know and What Do We Do?”Seminars in Speech and
Language19 (1998): 123–46.
Magura, S., and A. Rosenblum. “Modulating Effect of Alcohol Use on Cocaine Use.”
Addictive Behaviors25 (2000): 117–22.
Middleton, R.M., and M.B. Kirkpatrick. “Clinical Use of Cocaine. A Review of the Risks
and Benefits.”Drug Safety: An International Journal of Medical Toxicology and Drug
Experience9 (1993): 212–17.
Rawson, R., et al. “Methamphetamine and Cocaine Users: Differences in Characteristics
and Treatment Retention.”Journal of Psychoactive Drugs32 (2000): 233–38.
Siegal, H.A., et al. “Crack-Cocaine Users as Victims of Physical Attack.”Journal of the
National Medical Association92 (2000): 76–82.
Siegel, R.K. “Cocaine and the Privileged Class: A Review of Historical and Contem-
porary Images.”Advances in Alcohol and Substance Abuse4 (1984): 37–49.