IT'S TIME TO CRACK DOWN ON DRUG ABUSERS

In reference to the June 3 letter from Dr. Deborah Frank from Boston, I
think it's about time mothers are punished for this form of child abuse. It
may be "medically impossible in an individual case of stillbirth to
pinpoint a single cause," as she says, but it is highly probable in a
pregnancy at this late gestation, that cocaine played a big part in the
stillbirth.

In my five years as a neonatal intensive care nurse, I have seen countless
infants enduring the torturous withdrawal and sometimes-permanent brain
damage from placental abruptions caused by the mother's cocaine use.

Furthermore, to say "the tragedy of this stillbirth is compounded by
depriving the other children in this family of their mother" is ludicrous.
It is a blessing to her surviving children in the long run to not be raised
by a crack-addicted mother, who would likely sell the clothes off their
backs to feed her habit.

Let this be a message to women who risk their children's lives. There will
be a price to pay.

Suzi Estes
Columbia