WAR ON DRUGS: THE CRACK COCAINE

EPIDEMICBY: RAYNELL SEARCY

CLAIM/THESIS STATEMENT

• THE LAWS GENERATED FROM THE CRACK COCAINE EPIDEMIC FOCUSED ON INCARCERATING DRUG DEALERS AND USERS; IN RETURN THE REAL ISSUE, ADDICTION AND POVERTY WERE OVERLOOKED.

LAMAR SMITH• REPRESENTATIVE OF STATE• FLOOR STATEMENT ON THE FAIR SENTENCING ACT IN 2010• “DESPITE CLAIMS BY SOME, THIS IS NOT AN ISSUE OF ONE-TIME CRACK

USERS BEING PROSECUTED FOR POSSESSION. THIS IS ABOUT OFFENDERS WHO PERPETUALLY PEDDLED THIS DANGEROUS DRUG AND SHOULD PAY THE PRICE FOR THEIR ACTION” (SMITH).

BRUCE JOHNSON • JOURNALIST FROM THE CHICAGO JOURNALS• WROTE THE ARTICLE; DRUG ABUSE IN THE INNER-CITY: IMPACT ON HARD

DRUG USERS AND THE COMMUNITY,

• “ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, MAX AND CHILLIE (AND OTHERS DEALING ABOVE THE STREET LEVEL) COULD EASILY MAKE A TAX FREE INCOME OF $100,000 OR MORE AFTER EXPENSES. THIS POTENTIAL INCOME IS A VERY ATTRACTIVE INCENTIVE FOR YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN IN THE INNER CITY WHO MOST LIKELY WOULD BE OTHERWISE UNEMPLOYED” (JOHNSON).

PLANET ROCK: THE STORY OF HIP HOP AND THE CRACK COCAINE GENERATION

• DIRECTED BY ICE-T• PLANET ROCK: THE CRACK COCAINE GENERATION• PLANET ROCK: THE CRACK COCAINE GENERATION

JOHNATHAN ROTHWELL• JOURNALIST FROM BROOKINGS.EDU• “ARREST DATA SHOW A STRIKING TREND: ARRESTS OF BLACKS HAVE FALLEN

FOR VIOLENT AND PROPERTY CRIMES, BUT SOARED FOR DRUG RELATED CRIMES. AS OF 2011, DRUG CRIMES COMPRISED 14 PERCENT OF ALL ARRESTS AND A MISCELLANEOUS CATEGORY THAT INCLUDES “DRUG PARAPHERNALIA” POSSESSION COMPRISED AN ADDITIONAL 31 PERCENT OF ALL ARRESTS. JUST 6 PERCENT AND 14 PERCENT OF ARRESTS WERE FOR VIOLENT AND PROPERTY CRIMES, RESPECTIVELY” (ROTHWELL).

ARREST DATA

Column1 Column2 Column3 Column4 Column5 Column6 Column7 Column8

Estimated Prevalence of Cocaine and Crack Use in the US, 2014, by Demographic Characteristics

Numbers in ThousandsDemographic Characteristic Cocaine (Total) Crack

Lifetime Past Year Past Month Lifetime Past Year Past MonthTotal 39,200 4,553 1,530 9,424 773 354Age

12-17 222 168 39 35 20 8 18-25 3,881 1,604 473 546 127 29

26 or Older 35,097 2,782 1,018 8,843 627 317Gender Male 23,917 2,965 991 6,163 479 206

Female 15,283 1,588 539 3,261 294 149Latino/Hispanic Origin and Race

Not Hispanic or Latino 34,410 3,735 1,249 8,466 627 304 White 29,617 2,916 938 6,483 400 182

Black or African-American 3,020 565 190 1,496 188 103 American Indian or Alaska Native 327 45 26 128 2 1

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 133 15 3 17 * * Asian 536 106 66 110 29 18

Two or More Races 777 89 26 231 8 *Hispanic or Latino 4,790 817 281 957 146 51