Did you know the chief cause of infant mortality in the United States is congenital defects caused by a history of drug abuse, Joe?
Do you have figures to back that up?
If it is true, I guess I have to ask the question- why do these other countries NOT have this problem? Their drug laws aren't nearly as draconian as ours. Most of them treat addiction as a medical and not a criminal problem.
Look, pal, I spent two years studying pharmacological effects of maternal drugs on fetuses. Smoking cigarettes causes low birth weight as does alcohol consumption which also causes fetal alcohol syndrome with as little as an evening of social drinking before the woman even knows she's pregnant. Several FDA-approved drugs that treat migraine headaches caused cleft palate before removed from sales by apothecaries. People who take illicit drugs often have no idea what they are taking can cause their infant's first day to be their last as well.
You might as well chase greased pigs all day to try and get the truth out of drug users who become mothers and have been warned by important others not to admit to drug use due to being convicted of child abuse or even death of an infant who dies of SIDS that also is associated with nicotine inhalation not to mention crack, marijuana smoke, and illicit drugs.
Altered mind substances cause untold birth issues and may well be why our scholars cannot measure up to those of some third world countries as we sink lower and lower international on test scores. Marijuana makes severe assaults on sexual maturation in young males and intellectual capacities in both sexes that are downplayed consistently by drug pushers and people pushing for zero laws against "pleasures."