Table Of ContentMOTHERS AND ILLICIT DRUGS:
TRANSCENDING THE MYTHS
During the past decade, media and medical forces have combined to cre-
ate an alarming view of pregnant mothers who use illicit drugs. The result
has been increased state control of these women and their infants. This
in-depth study is the first in Canada to look at how mothers who use illicit
drugs regard the laws, medical practices, and social services that inter-
vene in their lives.
Focusing on practices in western Canada, Susan C. Boyd argues that
licit and illicit drug categories are artificial and dangerous and that the
evidence for neonatal syndrome (NAS) is suspect and ideologically
driven. She shows that women of colour and poor women are treated
much more harshly by authorities, that current regulations erode
women's civil liberties, and that social control is the aim of drug policy
and law. The study highlights mothers' views of the NAS program at
Sunny Hill Hospital for Children in Vancouver.
Writing from a critical feminist perspective, Boyd exposes some surpris-
ing social fictions - those that separate 'good' and 'bad' drugs, as they do
'good' and 'bad' mothers.
SUSAN c. BOYD is Assistant Professor, School of Criminology, Simon
Fraser University.
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SUSAN C. BOYD
Mothers and Illicit Drugs:
Transcending the Myths
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
© University of Toronto Press Incorporated 1999
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
ISBN 0-8020-4331-3 (cloth)
ISBN 0-8020-8151-7 (paper)
©
Printed on acid-free paper
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Boyd, Susan C., 1953-
Mothers and illicit drugs : transcending the myths
Includes bibliographic references and index
ISBN 0-8020-4331-3 (bound) ISBN 0-8020-8151-7 (pbk.)
i. Mothers - Drug use - Canada. 2. Mothers - Drug use
United States. I. Title.
HV5824.W6B69 1999 362.29'085'2 C98-931829-X1999 362.29'o85'2
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publish-
ing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities
and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
This book is dedicated to my children, jade and Tam boyd.
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Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IX
i: A Gender Analysis 3
Women and Social Control 5
Women and Illicit Drug Use 6
Motherhood 8
Maternal Drug Use 25
The Method: A Feminist Perspective 36
A Biographical Profile 41
2: Drugs and Mothering 44
Women's Perception of Illicit Drug Use 44
Illicit Drug Use and Mothering 59
Conclusion 72
3: Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS): Sunny Hill Hospital for
Children 73
Sunny Hill Hospital NAS Program 73
Long-Term NAS Problems 88
Patient Release and Follow-up 94
It's the Drugs! 103
Conclusion 105
4: Social Services: Intervention and Regulation 107
Contemporary Social Services 107
Past Social Service History 114
viii Contents
Pregnancy, Birth, and Social Services 122
Conclusion 132
5: Drug Treatment 134
Drug Treatment: Experience and Usefulness 134
Methadone: A Maintenance Program 142
Drug Use, Withdrawal, and Cessation 153
Alternatives to Current Drug Treatment 160
Conclusion 164
6: The Effects of the Criminalization of 'Narcotics' 166
Drug and Drug-Related Charges 168
Arrest and Prison 173
Police Surveillance 177
Prostitution 185
Race, Class, and Gender 189
Re-entry 193
Criminalization, Decriminalization, and Legalization 201
Conclusion 204
7: Implications for Policy Makers 207
Policy Directions 207
Conclusion 210
APPENDIX: Interview Schedule 213
NOTES 215
REFERENCES 219
INDEX 239
Acknowledgments
Without the participation of all the women interviewed for this book, it
would have been impossible to write. Their contribution was invaluable. I
am also grateful to my supervisory committee - Bruce Alexander, Neil
Boyd, Dorothy Chunn, and Karlene Faith - at Simon Fraser University,
whose comments, direction, and support contributed to this work.
I would also like to thank Ann Brainer for her patience and computer
expertise in formatting this book; and Cheryl Anderson, Starla Anderson,
Penny Mumm, and Theresa MacDonald for their proof-reading and
unfailing encouragement. I would also like to thank Irit Shimrat and
Beverley Beetham Endersby for their excellent copy-editing skills.
I am indebted to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
of Canada, Canadian Soroptomist, and Simon Fraser University; without
their assistance this project might not have been completed. As well, I am
grateful to the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada,
who provided funding through the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada. I would also like to thank Virgil Duff of Uni-
versity of Toronto Press for his interest and support in the publication of
this book.
Finally, I wish to thank my many friends and family members for their
support all these years, and for providing me with the spirit to keep
going. I am especially grateful to Gloria Watkins, Carolyn Crichton, and
Otis LeBlond, whose loving friendship and support have sustained me. I
wish to acknowledge my mother, Catherine Boyd, and all of my brothers
and sisters, Diana, Jean, Robert, Tommy, Eddie, Howard, and my sister-
in-law Suzanne, who have encouraged me. A special thanks to my two
children, Jade Boyd and Iain Boyd, who continue to inspire me.
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