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Health & Fitness

Drug Abuse Affects Children Too

The Vandermoon case in January near Windy Point involved drugged parents and an endangered child, authorities said.

The Washington Post recently reported on a Brown University study into the affects of meth substance abuse in pregnant women. The results warn all Americans and all parents of the direct affects of drug abuse on children. This is especially relevant in the San Gorgonio Pass after the Vandermoon case in January. Such cases have led many people to look again at how such abuse affects children and what the best drug abuse treatment program is.

A Lesson for Banning-Beaumont

As  here, a four-year old child was found wandering around Windy Point with an infected head wound. The wound came as a result of a bite from the parents’ dog. While the drugs being used by the parents were unspecified, deputies did note that the couple, Brian Anthony Vandermoon and Taylor Monnet Vandermoon were under the influence.

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When a child is found to have been put in such a perilous position by parents, they are referred to child protection services and in Banning-Beaumont, the child’s condition led to search warrants for the Drug Endangered Children unit to search the family home. Crimes committed by such parents go beyond narcotic law violations and include child cruelty and neglect. Even if a child has not been bitten by a dog or has not suffered some other form of physical injury as a result of the parents’ actions, drug abuse is a form of cruelty to children.

Meth Babies

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Linda LaGasse of Brown University’s Center of the Study of Children at Risk, reports that while less than one percent of pregnant women in America use crystal meth, such users directly affect the mental and emotional states of their unborn children. These emotional differences include depression, anxiety and a tendency to be in a funk. So far, studies have been able to only look at short-term effects, but are ongoing.

Other studies have noted that so-called crack babies suffer similar problems. These crack babies do not just develop a range of emotional and mental issues, but also physical ones. Studies have shown that crack babies may be smaller than normal babies. Long-term studies have been done with the offspring of cocaine users and behavioral problems have been shown to be long term. The same might be true of meth babies.

The study involved mothers from across America. While the majority came from the Midwest, where meth use is highest, there were also studies done in Los Angeles. The study tracked 330 children between the age of 3 and 5.

Children of Substance Abuse

Studies in the last two decades have proven that not just unborn babies are at risk. Perhaps it is obvious, but substance abuse directly affects parents and kids alike. For the parents, it is the direct consequences of taking body and mind-altering drugs. For one, any kind of substance abuse, including fatty foods, puts a strain on the liver. Second, it alters the emotional and mental well being of the addict.

Other studies have entered the nature vs. nurture debate found in many areas of child development theory. Studies have proven that the children of addicts are four times more likely to develop their own addictions later in life. To prove this is nature rather than nurture, studies have looked at the development of children of drug addicts who have been adopted into normal, stable families. According to Archives of General Psychiatry such children are still more likely to take up the habit even when adopted.

Babies born to addicts are also affected even if their parents took no drugs during the pregnancy or if the habit developed long after birth. Children require a stable, loving environment. They require care and nutrition. Households with drug problems tend to be characterized by violence, poverty and social isolation. As seen here in Banning-Beaumont, this does lead to child abuse and neglect. Not only that, but a third of abused children are likely to go on and abuse their own children in the future.

Therapy

The first stage of any therapy is to stop the parents being dependent on the drug. When childless individuals are being treated they can be isolated in a rehabilitation center until drug free, however, parents pose a problem because either they have to be separated from their children or treatment has to happen while they continue to function in society.

Learning to become sober is not enough though. Studies are ongoing into the correct means of dealing with drug dependency and child abuse; however, sobriety does need to be mixed with emotional therapy. This means mixing both individual therapies for the parents and the children, and group or family therapy to allow them to move on as a whole.

Getting Help

There are a number of places to seek help in the Pass area. This can be for yourself, your partner, parents or for other people who concern you. These places include the  in Banning, the Sunrise Alcohol and Drugs Abuse Center, the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center and La Vista Alcohol-Drug Recovery Center.

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