CRACK BABIES

10’21’’

AKM :

Feel Surreal – A Tongui and D. Groove

Detroit – Sound of the New Dance, 1988 – 10 Records Ltd

1.50 min

INFORMATION FOR INTRO

Millions of people around the world are drug addicts. One of the worst drugs smoked is crack. It’s already made big inroads in western countries. Crack is cheap, gives a rapid high and is extremely addictive. The children of drug addicted mothers also suffer from its affects. New born babies suffer withdrawal symptons have to be given morphine for months after birth. Many of them are damaged for life experiencing learning difficulties, physical and psychological damage. Marion Mayer Hohdahl reports :

0 :00 TEXT

Crack first made its mark in the world in the red light districts. It’s cheap, works rapidly and is extremely addictive. A rock – a small ball of crack – costs around 2 to 6 dollars – cheap enough for anyone to afford. The drug is usually cooked up with normal baking powder. These prostitutes have been addicted for years. They finance their addiction by selling their bodies. Crack is smoked. The high lasts up to 20 minutes. Long term crack consumers can lose consciousness, and even fall into a coma.

0 :51

O-sound

Drug addict

It can be the most amazing thing, or a total freak-out. Excuse my bluntess, they call it a mind fuck. It’s a mind expanding thing – it’s an escape from reality. It makes everything nice and brighter at the time. The come down on this stuff is bad.

1 :14

It’s worse for the babies of drug-addicted mothers. Like heroin and cocaine, crack also leaves longterm physical and pyschological damage. To get them through withdrawal after birth, the babies have to be given morphine for months on end.

1.30

O-sound

Dr Frantz Emmanuel Brea

Doctor

We check the baby. We check the urine for drugs and follow it clinically. Like with this baby, if you notice, it’s very stiff. It’s increased tone. It’s a sign of the drug withdrawal. When I sit him up, he has pretty good hip control. That’s abnormal for a baby that age. This is basically not hip control, it’s increased tone, increased muscle tone. He’s in withdrawal. The long term consequences are even more serious because these babies have higher incidents of death than normal babies and they have learning disabilities, they have poor motor control. They need a lot of support after leaving hospital.

2.29

text at 2.31

Often they don’t get it because for their mothers drugs are more important than their children.

2.39

Nicole is just 25 years old and she’s got four children from four different fathers. She’s trying to get off drugs. She’s lost custody of her children and they’re now being looked after by her grandmother.

2.57

O-sound

Nicole, drug addict

I was working spending my money, instead of on my kids, spending it on drugs. I thought that was the best thing to do ‘cause it kept me, you know, it kept me strong every day. Or so I thought until I woke up one day and I realiszed that all that I had before was not here anymore, it was gone. I lost everything – my house, my kids, my job, everything…

3.28

After a meeting with Barbara Harris, Nicole’s mother learnt Nicole could get 200 dollars if she let herself be sterilised or underwent long term birth control.

3.42

O-sound

Nicole

And, I know that with her help or whatever, that I can, you know…

cries

4.10

Thanks to Barbara Harris, Nicole won’t be bringing anymore children into the world. The reward for the sterilisation is money. For the founder of the CRACK association, it makes no difference if Nicole spends the money on drugs or not. The main thing for her is that no more babies are being irresponsibly brought into the world. Her son Rodney helps with the computer programming of the organisation which was founded in California three years ago.

4.43

O-sound

Barbara Harris

C.R.A.C.K. Organisation

These women, they shouldn’t use drugs, but once they do use drugs and get addicted to drugs, drugs are controlling their lives, that’s all they’re thinking about, it’s drugs.. They’re not getting pregnant on purpose, they’re not getting pregnant because they want to have children, they’re getting pregnant because they’re irresponsible. So, if it takes $200 enough to take their attention and make them responsible, to me it’s $200 well spent.

5.04

Barbara Harris’ programme is often attacked for what some see as it’s Hitler type methods mainly against the black American population. Barbara founded the organisation after she adopted 4 to 8 children from drug-addicted mothers. The former waitress gets financial backing from sponsors. In three years, she’s written out a 200 dollar check for 3127 women.

5.32

O-sound

Barbara Harris

C.R.A.C.K. Organisation

Even if we had only paid one woman, it’s a success because if you’ve prevented one baby from being born damaged and spending a life in foster care and ending up homeless at age 18, then you’ve been a success.

5.46

Tracy decided on a five year hormone birth control method. She also got a 200 dollar cheque from Barbara Harris. Tracy has five children. Two have been taken by the state and placed into care. One of her sons, swallowed some cocaine as a baby, and died.

6.16

O-sound

Tracy

Former crack addict

After he was in hospital for about a day, the next day at about 2 o’clock in the morning, the police and social worker was knocking at my door. And I had my daughter that’s 13 now and my son that’s 10 and they took them.

6.34

Tracy was still addicted to drugs. She gave birth to another child from a father she hardly knew. A decade or so of drug use from marijuana and hashish to crack had landed her on the streets. For a couple of months now she’s been in a withdrawal programme, and is trying to be a mother to her children – as she never was before.

6.58

Tracy

I’ve been homeless, I’ve had to sell my body to survive, you know, but people say « You give a drug addict 200 dollars, she’s going to go out and smoke crack¨ » Well, even if they do, they’re not putting it into an innocent child, an innocent little baby because, you know, even though I stopped six months with Jerimiah, the older he gets, I’m really starting to see the effects that the drug has taken on him because he gets very hyper-active… »

7.26

In the middle of Harlem in the black quarter of New York there’s an oasis for the unwanted children of drug addicted mothers. For more than 30 years, Clara and Lorraine Hale, with the help of generous donors, have taken over the care of 800 babies from drug addicted women.

7.43

Thirty children are living here now, lovingly cared for, until their mothers are drug free and can take them again, or until their mothers are out of prison.

7.56

O-sound

Dr Lorraine Hale

Hale House

Many of our mothers have several children, each child has a different father. Where were they ? It’s not for me to judge. I can’t say that’s wrong, you shouldn’t do it. I’m just pleased that they thought enough of the child to bring the child here, until they’re ready to care for it. And, you know, we’re now talking about two or three generations of drug addicts in one family. So, it’s not as if you can go to mum and say « Will you care for my baby while I try to get off this drug ? », because mum is using drugs also.

8.28

Most of the children stay here for about three years. Many of them are given up for adoption if drugs are more important to the mothers than their babies.

8.37

This was the case for Albert. The 26 year old has never forgotten his care here at Hale house and now works here as a cook.

8.49

O-sound

Albert Williams

Son of a drug addicted mother

Once you leave here..for me or like for myself, when I left here, the love and the caring stopped. It was over. You know, it’s a cold world out there. These kids are in for a long, long hard world.

9 :07

Many babies are damaged for life by the drugs. Ramon is blind, almost deaf and will never walk. His mother doesn’t want to look after a child like this.

9.25

O-sound

Rolando Alvarez

Uncle

We’re very upset with my sister, we’re very angry with her. She doesn’t know that I visit Ramon and I don’t want to give her any type of relief or satisfaction that at least somebody is looking after or coming to see Ramon. I feel that she should go through whatever tormet she is feeling for putting Ramon in this condition.

9.51

According to American health authorities, 400’000 children a year in the world are born to mothers who take crack or cocaine. Most of the children here at Hale House will never experience mother love and some won’t survive because their drug addicted mothers are also infected with the AIDS virus.

ENDS 10. 21

Reporter : Marion Mayer Hohdahl

Camera : Aiken Weiss, Aleksandar Jovanovich

VT editor : Daniela Schwarzek