Passive freebase cocaine ('crack') inhalation by infants and toddlers
D. A. Bateman and M. C. Heagarty
Department of Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York.
Cocaine and its principal metabolite, benzoyl ecgonine, were isolated from
the urine of four hospitalized children who had been exposed to the smoke
of freebase cocaine ("crack") used by their adult caretakers. Two of the
children had transient neurological symptoms (drowsiness and unsteady gait)
and two had seizures whose cause could not be determined by laboratory
investigation. Passive cocaine inhalation may have caused or contributed to
these symptoms. Children in the care of adults who abuse freebase cocaine
should be considered at risk not only for disruption of their social
environment but also for the effects of cocaine toxicity.
