Fiction: Drug Use Is a Victimless Crime

Fact: There have been more than 15,000 children affected in meth labs and related incidents.

These children are exposed to chemicals used in methamphetamine production and are frequently found in filthy and dangerous environments. Their parents and other adults living at laboratory sites, usually homes, are consumed with the process of methamphetamine cooking, and are frequently users of the drug themselves. Law enforcement and social service programs are springing up around the country to identify and assist drug endangered children, and the foster care system is overwhelmed in many states.

Baby Burned in a Methamphetamine Laboratory

Below is a baby who died as a result of complications from burns he received in a methamphetamine fire. His parents were making methamphetamine in their garage apartment. When the fire broke out, they ran out and then realized neither had the baby. They grabbed a ladder out of the garage and put it under the window of his room to rescue him. He had burns over 30% of his body. After his death, his parents left the area before the baby's funeral and burial. They were later arrested buying more chemicals to make meth.

In addition to the severe health problems facing these children—pulmonary, skin, emotional and mental problems—they are also exposed to environments frequently containing firearms, vermin, paraphernalia including razor blades, syringes, and pipes, refrigerated ingredients which are mistaken for juice or soda, and a host of other dangers. Frequently, these neglected children are abused, and many test positive for methamphetamine in their systems. Some children test positive for methamphetamine after a meth-using mother nurses them. Children from meth homes are frequently victims of physical, sexual, or emotional child abuse and neglect. In some cases, the volatile chemicals used in meth production cause fires and explosions and a number of children have been killed.

Drug exposed children cost society millions of dollars. The total lifetime costs associated with caring for babies that were prematurely exposed to drugs or alcohol range from $750,000 to $1.4 million. These figures take into account the hospital and medical costs for drug exposed babies, housing costs, and outside care costs. The long-term health damage to meth-exposed children has not yet been calculated.