DON'T LOCK UP MOTHERS WHO USE DRUGS - U.S. REPORT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Drug use during pregnancy has become a serious
problem in the United States, but jailing such women is no solution as it
is unconstitutional and can be the worst solution for the baby, experts
said Monday.

``No state should even consider a law criminalizing prenatal substance
abuse as this is unconstitutional and unwise,'' said Lawrence Nelson of the
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University in California,
who headed a team which produced a report on the issue for a research charity.

He and colleagues agreed that efforts to stop women from doing things that
may harm their unborn babies have been racially biased, poorly thought out
and often in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution.

``Any state intervention in the area of prenatal substance abuse must be
scrutinized for racial prejudice and for fairness in excluding legal, but
harmful, substances like alcohol and nicotine,'' Nelson told a news
conference.

The researchers' study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

``Substance abuse by pregnant women is a major national problem,'' said Dr.
H. Westley Clark, who heads substance abuse programs at the Veterans
Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco. But he added that jailing the
mothers or committing them to institutions to kick their habit would not
necessarily solve the problem.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that a million children a
year or more are exposed to alcohol or illegal drugs while in the womb.

Mary Faith Marshall of the Medical University of South Carolina said that
since 1985, ``more than 240 women in 35 states have been criminally
prosecuted for using illegal drugs or alcohol during pregnancy. Between 70
percent and 80 percent of these women are minorities.''

Nelson also said it would be a mistake to make health care professionals
look out for women who might be abusing drugs. ''If seeing an obstetrician
or a midwife for prenatal care directly leads to criminal sanctions, then
pregnant women will be deterred from seeking such care,'' he said.

^REUTERS@

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski