CRACK ORGANIZATION OPENS NASHVILLE OFFICE

NASHVILLE -- An organization that offers $200 to drug-addicted men
and women in exchange for long-term birth control or sterilization
has opened operations in Nashville. Barbara Harris, founder and
director of California-based CRACK, or Children Requiring a Caring
Kommunity, said the organization will distribute fliers to area
agencies advertising its services.

CRACK is a nonprofit organization funded by private donations.

"There's really no reason why a drug addict or an alcoholic should
get pregnant," Harris said.

"And if we can prevent that from happening by offering them $200,
then it's the best $200 that could be spent."

Under a program called Project Prevention, CRACK reimburses clients
after verifying that long-term birth control or sterilization has
taken place.

If a person does not have insurance, CRACK will pay.

Harris, of Garden Grove, Calif., founded the organization after she
and her husband adopted four drug-addicted children born to the same
woman.

The group paid its first two women in November 1997.

CRACK's Web site reports that 451 people -- including five men --
have been paid in exchange for birth control or sterilization. Of the
women receiving service from CRACK, 193 received tubal ligations.

Harris said that while CRACK is officially established in 19 U.S.
cities, the organization receives calls daily from people in many
more locations.

"We have lots of little warriors all over the United States who are
working for our cause," Harris said.

Marsha Rosenbaum, director of the San Francisco office of the
Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation and co-author of the book
"Pregnant Women on Drugs: Combating Stereotypes and Stigma,"
disagrees with CRACK's approach.

"I think it (CRACK) is a shortsighted effort that actually does
almost nothing, in general, to help pregnant women who use drugs to
quit," Rosenbaum said.

"It worries me because it has the effect of coming across to women as
bribery. It's $200 for your womb, basically."

Diane Denton, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Health,
said the agency's provisional data for 2000 shows 16 babies born in
Tennessee with fetal drug syndrome.

Only one Tennessee baby was reported born with fetal alcohol syndrome in 2000.

Rosenbaum said she worried about racism in CRACK's methods because
the majority of the women treated by the program are women of color.

But Harris said blacks are not targeted.

"We've actually paid more white women than we have black women to get
on birth control," she said.

According to CRACK's Web site, 210 of those it has paid were
Caucasian, 173 were black, 48 were Hispanic and 20 were of other
ethnic backgrounds.

Jeff Teague, president and chief executive officer of Planned
Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee, said he is concerned about
coercion.

"The basic principle that underlies Planned Parenthood is that all of
our services are voluntary," Teague said.

"When you start giving money for birth control, we get concerned
about people being coerced into making decisions they wouldn't
necessarily make without the enticement of cash."

CRACK places no stipulation on how the money is used.

Rosenbaum said she advocates drug and alcohol treatment for CRACK participants.

"I would prefer to see long-term treatment options for pregnant women
to turn their lives around permanently," Rosenbaum said.

CRACK has had advertising trouble.

Billboards in Kansas City, which stated "If you are addicted to
drugs, get birth control -- get $200 cash," were taken down amid
scrutiny.

Harris said CRACK has found that directly contacting organizations is
proving more effective, but she did not dismiss a billboard in
Nashville.

"I saw a billboard last night that I thought would be perfect," Harris said.

"To all those who oppose what we do, until they are ready to step up
and adopt the next crack baby born, their opinion means nothing to
me," she said.