Drug effects: a search for outcomes

In order to best understand the developmental and behavioral effects of prenatal cocaine exposure, two important activities must occur. The first is the continuing development and refinement of research methodologies. Information-sharing activities such as conferences support this goal. Second, agencies such as NIDA need to support longitudinal followup of prenatally drug-exposed child cohorts and controls to identify outcomes beyond infancy and toddler years. Without support for information exchange and longitudinal followup, researchers will still be in the dark regarding the effects of prenatal drug exposure on school functioning when the next drug epidemic occurs. This message was not heeded in the 1970s and early 1980s, leaving researchers in the 1990s in the uncomfortable position of saying they do not know the longer term effects of prenatal drug exposure.