CHILDREN AND DRUGS

To the Editor:

Re "Home Drug-Making Laboratories Expose Children to Toxic Fallout" (front
page, Feb. 23):

There are visible parallels between methamphetamine and crack cocaine. I am
editor of Represent, a magazine written by teenagers in foster care, and
many of my young writers entered foster care because their parents used
crack. In our current issue, they grapple with the pain and shame of being
labeled crack babies.

Research shows that crack cocaine does not have the long-lasting,
devastating effects on babies that experts once predicted. But the myth
persists. One especially talented writer matter-of-factly told me that
because she was a crack baby, she would always be "slow."

We must remember that the youngest victims of methamphetamine may continue
believing what is said about them long after the story is news.

KENDRA HURLEY New York, Feb. 23, 2004