Drug addiction and alcohol abuse affect many people throughout the United States. Of these people, one of the groups that it affects the most is children. Drugs can be very beneficial when they are used in the correct ways. Some drugs, such as medications, can save lives, however that same drug can kill a person. Drug usage is very dangerous, not just for the person using drugs, but for the people around them. Even though most people know how bad it can be to drink alcohol and use other drugs while they are pregnant, some people still do it. Drinking alcohol and using other drugs while pregnant has a negative effect on children, because of their effects on the brain, developmental issues, and problems growing up in that living situation. 

A lot of people believe that those with drug addictions are suffering from a disease. Although I do agree that addiction can be a disease, it is not a valid excuse for people to be addicted to drugs. Some drug addicts were born with addictions, others became addicted to their medication after a stay in the hospital. Those people are the ones that I believe people should sympathize with. It is not their fault that they are addicted because they were either born that way and it was out of their control, or they needed it for a medical situation. The people who go out to parties and just decide to try a drug, and then end up addicted to it are the ones who should be held accountable for their actions. They chose to try that drug and it is their fault for becoming addicted. 

The worst thing an addict can do is use a drug while they are pregnant. Inside the womb is where most of a person's development occurs. There are so many reasons to not do drugs at that time. Babies can be affected immensely. Development is crucial for survival, especially when it comes to the brain. If a baby is being affected by a teratogen in the womb, they have a high chance of not developing correctly which will lead to many problems throughout their life.  

One of the most important organs in the human body is the brain. The brain is especially important when it comes to development, because the brain is in charge of the rest of the organs. The nervous system (brain and spinal cord) affects all of the other bodily systems, which includes: the skeletal, muscular, cardiovascular, endocrine, lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, reproductive, integumentary, and urinary systems (Neuroscience). This means that if the brain is impaired, it makes it more difficult for the other organs to function normally. When it comes to medical conditions, the first few years are crucial to survival. Some babies can be born with birth defects. These include heart problems, cleft palates, and many others. Another problem that babies can be born with are intellectual disabilities, such as more mild things like dyslexia, to more severe things such as down-syndrome. Alcohol usage during pregnancy is the number one cause of mental retardation in infants (Eustace, Kang, and Coombs 215). "Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) refers to a group of physical and mental birth defects that result from consumption of alcohol during pregnancy." (Eustace, Kang, and Coombs 215). In the Drakenstein Child Health Study, the researchers found that children who were exposed to alcohol in utero had a slightly smaller head circumference when compared to the controlled variable. The structures in the brain, such as the gray matter, the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the thalamus, also had slightly smaller volumes (Donald, et al. 86). Fetal alcohol syndrome/ fetal alcohol spectrum disorder can weaken a child's skills when it comes to planning, fluency, set-shifting, and working memory (Kingdon, Cardoso, and McGrath 127). All of this could be avoided if the mother had decided to just not drink while she was pregnant and breastfeeding.

 In most cases, when a child is born with a mental birth defect, or even a physical one, there is not one solid cure that can fix them completely. Doctors and nurses can help them and treat them to make them get better, however most people still struggle with congenital defects throughout their lives. The ironic part is that doctors may have to prescribe medications to them to help with their birth defects, when drugs were the reason they were born with them in the first place.

Even if a child is able to survive nine months in a toxic womb and be born with no problems whatsoever, they will still most likely have trouble in their lives. Growing up around drugs and alcohol can affect a child in many ways. During the first few years of life, children are very imprintable, making it important to shape them in the right ways (Ward 64). Giving them a safe environment is important to their development into teenagers and adults. Many families struggle with financial issues. Drugs are expensive and that can be a burden to the family. "Consumer advocates say the rising cost of prescription medication has left many seniors, people with disabilities and the underinsured with hard choices: Buy food or pay for medication, which can cost hundreds of dollars a month." (Lentz). If some people who are actually given a prescription for drugs because of a medical issue cannot even afford both food and the medication, a person who struggles with drug addiction probably would not have the money either. The cost of rehab can also be insanely expensive. On top of all that, most drug addicts do not have good, stable jobs, which causes chaos on the financial side of things because they are not making as much money as they are spending and sooner or later they will run out. 

If a parent cannot provide for their family, many children will take on adult roles at an earlier age than they should. Many psychologists believe in developmental stages, such as Erik Erikson's eight psychosocial stages. Erik Erikson believes that at each stage in life, a person has a crisis that they must overcome before they move onto the next stage. These stages include: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. identity confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair (Studer 168-173). If a child is forced to grow up too soon and take on these roles, they may skip developmental stages, causing psychological problems later in life. In some families, a father may step in for the mother and try to work more to support the family. In these cases however, they would be spending more time at work, and less at home with their kids, providing more money, but less emotional support in their lives. 

There are four types of parenting: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and neglecting. Neglecting is viewed as the worst type of parenting because it involves ignoring a child, and trying to not be a part of their lives (Baumrind 62). Neglecting is common in households that are run by people who abuse alcohol and/or drugs. When a person is using drugs or drinking alcohol, it is easy for them to become caught up in themselves. Using drugs affects the basic mechanisms of the neurotransmitters which causes a change to the biology of the brain (Azmitia 44). While under the influence, a person cannot usually properly care for themselves, let alone a child. Babies require special care, and they can be harmed if they do not receive it. "Whenever one chemical system is activated, it has an immediate effect on millions of other cells." (Azmitia 44). People do not understand that being under the influence of drugs or alcohol will affect their whole body, not just one part. Even when a person is not under the influence while they are caring for a child, if they are addicted, they will reach a point where they start going through withdrawal, and can be distracted and go to serious lengths to get their high. No person in this state of mind should be caring for a child. Getting their drug can become the only thing that they can think about and it will be the most important thing to them, unless they get the help that they need. This makes raising a child dangerous for drug addicts because it is much easier for them to make mistakes than a non-addicted person.

Having a child take on adult roles does not only cause problems later in their lives, but it can make them miss out on an important part of their lives. Instead of hanging out with their friends after school, they may have to go to a job to make a little money to help support their family. Instead of playing sports, they may go home to make sure their siblings get fed at night. They help keep the house clean, and act as if they were the parent in the situation. A child like this probably has to watch out for their parents because drugs can be dangerous and overdosing can be easy when someone does not know what they are doing. 

Children do not just need physical things in life. It is also important that they have a safe place to live. If a parent is buying drugs illegally, things can get messy. Drug deals that go wrong can often lead to other crimes, such as murder. Losing a parent at any age is devastating, but to be a child when it happens is awful. Children need a stable and secure home to grow up in so they can develop properly. Children need parents that they can go to for emotional support and advice. Without a role model, they have no one to aspire to be. Without having someone to push them to do their best, and support them in school or sports or whatever it be, they can lose confidence and motivation to do anything with their lives and they could end up in a bad position. Also, growing up around drugs could either make a child hate drugs, because they have seen what it can do to a person, or a child to grow up with the attitude that they are not that bad if their parents do them. This way of thinking can be dangerous because once they reach an age where they get curious about what would happen if they tried alcohol or drugs, they may become addicted themselves. This can ruin a person's life. 

A big question when it comes to drug usage is, who is to blame? The obvious answer would be the person who is taking the drugs. Although many people see it that way, the family and friends of drugs addicts can sometimes take the blame and put it on themselves. It is hard watching someone you love struggle with drug addiction or alcohol abuse. Many people blame themselves for another's addiction because they feel bad for them. They may think "I should have done something." Or "I should have helped them earlier and it would not have gotten this bad.".  Many children may feel as if they were the problem. They could think that their mother could not handle raising them and she turned to drugs and alcohol. Carrying the weight of that blame is an awful thing for a child to have to do and making them feel guilty for their whole lives will affect them greatly. 

Some people do not think that drug addiction is as big of a deal and others. People could argue that every person has rights and that it is not fair to judge them based on what they choose to do (Stevens). They argue that the government should not get involved and that it is wrong to separate children from their biological parents. While I do agree that everyone has their own rights, that has to include the children, and their safety has to come first. People should have the freedom to choose what they want to do in their own lives, however as soon as it impacts someone else's life, it becomes a problem. Another person's rights do not get taken away just because one person wants to exercise theirs. 

In conclusion, drug addiction and alcohol abuse can negatively impact a child from the time they are conceived to the time that they die. Between the neurological damage, the developmental issues they will face, and growing up in that environment, a child born to a drug addict will end up facing some challenges throughout their lives. The question that many people have about this issue is, what can be done to help these people and these children? In my opinion, the government should have stricter laws about drugs. It should be harder for people who do not need to use them to access them. The less drugs there are in the world, less problems we would have with drug addiction.  While I do believe that addiction can be considered a disease (mostly because of the effects it has on the brain), I do not think that people should accept that as a valid excuse for drug addiction. When people go out and make a choice to try a drug, we should not sympathize because being sympathetic and labeling drug usage as a disease gives them more of an excuse to continue what they are doing. Yes, addiction is a disease, but they made a choice that put them in their position and they should have to deal with it. I think that there should be more effort put into rehab centers. More money should be put into them to make them more effective, and cheaper so that people who cannot afford it will be able to get the help that they need. A controversial issue that comes with drug addiction and alcohol usage is if it is better for the children to be kept with their parents or taken from them. It is easy to argue both sides, however I think that most people would agree that there comes a point where the child has to be taken from the parents. It is exactly where that point is that differs in a person's opinion. I think that it is important for a child to know their parents, so I think that a child should be kept with them for as long as it is safe for them to be there. If a person is trying to get better and puts a lot of effort into going to rehab and cleaning up their lives, then it is obvious that they want to be better for their child/children. If a person has absolutely no desire to be in their child's life, then I do not think the child should be there. The most important thing throughout all of this is the child's safety. Every child deserves a happy, healthy life, whether it be with their biological families, or with a foster family.

