The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently published an article co-authored by Reilly postdoctoral researcher, Katharine McCabe. Titled "Incidence of Newborn Drug Testing and Variations by Birthing Parent Race and Ethnicity Before and After Recreational Cannabis Legalization," the article sheds light on racial disparities in newborn drug testing and provides insight into how the legalization of recreational cannabis may have affected these disparities. McCabe is a Reilly Center Postdoctoral Research Associate in Health, Humanities, & Society.
"Thirty-seven US states and the District of Columbia mandate reporting newborns with suspected prenatal substance exposure to the state, and punitive policies that link prenatal substance exposure to newborn drug testing (NDT) may lead to disproportionate reporting of Black parents to Child Protective Services. The impact of recreational cannabis legalization on racial disproportionality in NDT is unknown."