|
In Reply to: Unless you're applying for work at WalMart... posted by Lady Poverty on April 12, 2005 at 22:44:46:
IN a fiendishly cunning marketing ploy, drug dealers are now giving pregnant moms free crack cocaine -- so they can addict a new generation of customers from birth!
Federal investigators say the sickening trend is growing worldwide, and that unborn babies have become the "targets of choice" for drug pushers.
"It's as clever as it is appalling," says a Drug Enforcement Agency source. "The infants become addicted in the womb and by the time they're pre-teens, they've become the dope peddler's most loyal customers -- crackheads who'll steal and even kill to get the money to buy drugs.
"Yes, the dispersal of free drugs to pregnant women costs pushers a good bit up front, but down the line it pays off. They consider it an 'investment.' "
Studies of the problem conducted by the DEA are so alarming that the results are being kept hush-hush until the federal government comes up with a plan to stamp it out. But agency sources say that reports indicate that in the United States alone, at least $1 billion worth of free crack cocaine is now being distributed to expectant mothers annually.
"The scary part is many of these women don't live in the inner cities or bad neighborhoods," reveals the DEA source. "Drug merchants are using this approach to make inroads into the suburbs and small town America."
Greedy drug dealers talk as if the giveaway is an act of generosity.
"They'll see a woman they know who has a history of drug use or perhaps has recently been through rehab, and come up to her and say, 'Hey, sweetie, I hear you're in a family way -- congratulations. Let me give you a present for your baby shower,' " the DEA source says. "That 'gift' is crack cocaine.' "
Crack has a far more harmful effect on the fetus than its mom, experts say.
"For the mother, the drug high lasts only about 20 minutes. For the fetus, crack stays in its system for more than two weeks," a physician explains. "As a result, the unborn child builds up an immense tolerance for the drug.
"After birth, the baby may be weaned from the cocaine -- but it's too late. The child's brain has already been wired for addiction. By the age of 10 or 11, these children are prone to developing an insatiable hunger for drugs."
One DEA study indicates that at least 11 percent of all newborns in the U.S. last year were exposed in the womb to one or more illicit drugs. And if pushers have their way, that could skyrocket to 25 percent by 2005.
"This is turning into a national tragedy," warns the DEA source.
