It’s Apparently ‘Racist’ to Protect Children From Parental Drug Use

Lax laws leave kids increasingly vulnerable to neglect and exposure. 

Drug abuse isn’t just an individual plague. The consequences of drug use extend far beyond the individual user, though decriminalization advocates often don’t acknowledge this reality. As with no-fault divorce, orienting public policy purely around the desires of adults has disastrous consequences for children.  The drug abuse epidemic has claimed more than 100,000 lives each year since 2021. If there’s a common denominator in our polarized nation, it’s drug addiction. From prescription opioids to heroin to the synthetic fentanyl flooding across our southern border, the death toll rises each year. Over the past 15 years, the number of adults suffering from substance use disorder has more than doubled from 22 million in 2010 to 46 million in 2021. (RELATED: Progressives’ Deadly Hypocrisy on ‘Harm Reduction’) Children of all ages suffer from America’s drug abuse epidemic. Social media allows teenagers to purchase drugs with unprecedented ease, and more and more teens overdose on Chinese fentanyl disguised as prescription pills each year. But young children suffer, too, especially if their parents use drugs.   Young Children Face New Dangers from Drug Decriminalization   The dangers of drug exposure start in utero. Prior to the current drug abuse epidemic, an estimated 400,000–480,000 children were "prenatally exposed to drugs or alcohol" each year, according to a report on the subject published by the American Enterprise Institute. Since then, the number has likely risen in tandem with highly increased rates of substance use disorder.  Following birth, the children of drug users face “increased risks of fatality, poisonings, injuries, physical and sexual abuse, and severe neglect, in addition to poor physical, cognitive, and emotional development.” Parents who use drugs at home around their children aren’t particularly vigilant. Kids have ingested everything from cannabis gummies to fentanyl found around the house. And as drug use is increasingly normalized, the risks...