Drug Criminalization Promotes Stigma And Overdoses Among Pregnant Women, Cautions Federal Health Official

According to Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), treating addiction as a criminal matter is ineffective and should instead be viewed as a public health issue.

NIDA aims to advance science on the causes and consequences of drug use and addiction and to apply that knowledge to improve individual and public health.

Volkow referred to the consequences of criminalizing pregnant women for substance use disorders. “These stunning data highlight just how important it is to ensure access to substance use disorder treatment for pregnant and postpartum people, including the need to eliminate barriers that interfere with this treatment.”

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Drug overdose deaths among pregnant and postpartum women increased by 81% between 2017 and 2020, according to Columbia University researchers. "Deaths related to mental health conditions, including substance use disorders (SUDs), account for 23% of deaths during pregnancy or in the year following it. This outstrips excessive bleeding, cardiovascular conditions, or other well-known complications of pregnancy," per STAT.

Volkow noted that this population needs support, not to be criminalized. She said there was an "increase in overdose deaths among people during and immediately after pregnancy, and it’s now the leading cause of death during or shortly after pregnancy, ranking higher than excessive bleeding, cardiovascular conditions, or other well-known complications of pregnancy,” reported Marijuana Moment.

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