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# Databases: Drugs and Iowa Children — Updated
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/databases-meth-and-children/
- Published: 2013-08-02T05:00:16.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-11T02:41:36.000Z
- Description: Between 2003 and 2011, more than 11,150 children were found to have illicit drugs in their system, information from the Department of Human Services shows. An interactive IowaWatch map shows you how bad the problem is in your Iowa county.
- Author: Lauren Mills
- Tags: Health, Databases, iowawatch, Reports, Iowa Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, Iowa Children’s Hospital, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

Every year, as many as 2,500 Iowa children might be exposed to illegal drugs while still in the womb. Under Iowa law, exposing a child to illicit drugs is considered a form of child abuse and neglect. The law only covers children who are already born.

Between 2003 and 2012, 12,152 children were found to have illicit drugs in their system, information from the Department of Human Services shows.

These databases are part of an IowaWatch [story](https://investigatemidwest.org/iowawatch-investigation-barriers-keep-drug-addicted-mothers-from-treatment/?ref=investigatemidwest.org) about mothers who abused illicit drugs during pregnancy.

Lauren Mills/IowaWatch

Click on the county to see how many children were found to have drugs in their system between 2003 and 2012, according to information from the Iowa Department of Human Services. The data includes both newborns and older children.

The spreadsheet below shows the full dataset for the data used in the map.

The spreadsheets below take the statewide numbers from 2012 and 2011, breaking them down by age group.