Children born to mothers who took cocaine during pregnancy are twice as likely to use tobacco and marijuana and develop substance abuse by their teenage years a study has showed. Cocaine is toxic to a foetal brain as it restricts blood flow and alters the expression of genes which can affect executive functioning language and other types of development. The findings showed that in utero exposure to cocaine doubles the risk of tobacco and marijuana use as early as age 15 and substance abuse by 17. They are also more likely to handle stress in negative ways especially if mistreated
