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Tracking The Crack Cocaine Epidemic
in S tephen L loyd J ohnson
Charting the course o f the crack/
cocaine epidemic through the 1980s
and early 1990s offers addiction re
searchers im p o rta n t in fo rm a tio n
about the way urban communities
react to entrenched patterns o f addic
tion. Has crack/cocainc use tapered
o ff in the 1990s? Are individuals
vo lu ntarily abandoning their addic
tions because o f the losses they are
experiencing? Are there patterns o f
crack use that w ill allow individuals
to have life long addictions to this
drug? W hat are the possibilities o f
individuals and communities moving
largely into the use o f depressant drugs,
and the crack/cocaineepidemic w ind
ing down as we approach the end o f
this decade?
THE NATIONAL PICTURE:
The smoking o f cocaine through
the process o f free-basing began to be
noticed in the largest cities o f the
United Suites by 1979 (Inciardi, 1993).
Seen m ainly in individuals and social
groups who were already addicted to
inhaling powdered cocaine (chloral
hydrate), this specific type method o f
preparing cocaine for smoking lasted
w ell into 1984, when it began to be
largely replaced by crack/cocainc use.
Out o f seventy individuals applying
fo r outpatient care at our Seattle clinic
in 1993, only six had initiated their
cocaine use with freebase cocaine.
Interviews completed in treat
ment programs in Atlanta, Philadel
phia, New York C ity, San Francisco,
and Seattle in the summer o f 1992
indicate thatcrack/cocaine was being
used in each o f these cities by 1981 or
1982. Many older individuals had 7-
12 year histories o f intranasal use o f
cocaine or freebasing cocaine previ
ous to their use o f crack, w hile most
younger ¡individuals had a only one
to two year histories o f interm ittent
use o f powder cocaine, marijuana,
and alcohol.
The National Household Survey
on Drug Abuse estimates that in house
holds measured in 1991 3.9 m illio n
individuals had tried crack in their
life times w ith an estimated 35.9% o f
the total being A frican-Am erican. In
measuring the rates o f cocaine use
among male booked arrestees in the
major urban areas o f Philadelphia,
New Y o rk C ity, Washington D.C.,
Los Angeles, and M iam i, these cities
continue to have the highest levels o f
cocaine use in crim inal populations.
DUFquarterly reports on booked male
arrestees in these cities in 1992 indi-
cate a 52-63% positive lest fo r co-
caine, supporting some researchers
b elieflh at the cocaine epidemic is far
from over.
A PROFILE OF INDIVIDUAL
ADDICTION:
W hile television portrayals o f
crack addicted individuals are o f ur-
ban African-American youth, thetypi-
cal cocaine addict is a white, Latino,
or African-Am erican male, about 30
years o f age, who goes to w ork every
day and spends between 10-80% o f
his paycheck on his addiction. The
stereotype for female crack/cocaine
addicts is that they are prostitutes,
welfare mothers, or a part o f the c rim i
nal population. The actual female
crack using population is a very ra
cially m ixed w ith high levels o f un-
employment. W orking females make
up a hidden but significant part ot the
crack addicted population as well.
As the crack/cocainc epidemic
has move across the face o f the United
States between 1981 and 1994, it has
in c re a s in g ly em braced a m ore d i
verse p o p u la tio n . C ocaine use at
fir s t was la rg e ly fo u n d am ong
o ld e r w h ite and A fric a n A m e ri-
can m ales. H o w e v e r, it appears
the average age o f use has c re p t
d o w n w a rd so th a t th irte e n years
into the e p id e m ic we have a c ra ck
using p o p u la tio n th a t is ten years
younger.
Cocaine use in the 1980s moved
beyond the entertainment industry
and W all street crowd into general
use in the racially diverse urban popu-
lation. L ike any highly contagious
discasecrack/cocaineaddictionpasses
l'rom friend to friend and fam ily mem
ber to fam ily member. Sixty five year
old women w ith no prior history o f
drug use, who have allowed their
children to deal from their homes,
P rof . M c K inley B urt
ELL, AS WE DIM THE
HOUSE LIGHTS AND
RAISE THE CURTAIN
ON THE SECOND ACT OF THE
PERFORMANCE, PERHAPS WE
CAN COME UP WITH A MORE
UPBEAT EVALUATION.
The recent articles on M in o rity
Business on Alberta Street that ap
peared in both the Oregonian and
W illam ette week newspapers don’t
offer much encouragement.
I f it is true as the media intimates
- that here may be rascals involved -
- then, who else is there to blame but
the taxpayers who let the con take
place?
(Especially the A frican A m e ri
can ones who claim at the very same
tim e that they are sharp enough to be
in business).
Last week, we spoke o f “ Boards
o f Directors” , heavily endowed w ith
African Americans, but who, never
theless, failed to watch the store w hile
ownership o f m illion s in real estate
went to interests outside the northeast
comm unity.
People in some o f the neighbor
hood organizations are asking “ who
got paid o ff - surely, these publicity
- loving college graduates and' ta lk
ing heads’ arc not ju st stupid?” W ell,
what do you think? Then, there are
those who just sit placidly by and vote
as asked; happy for media attention
and photo ops. Never ask to “ see the
books” .
N ow , in another place in this
newspaper. I cite some problems in
/ ’N on -p rofit” enterprises; Perspec
tives; “ The Health Care Agenda Con
tinued” . A ctu a lly, the basic disabili
ties that occur in both black 'F o r
P ro fit’ and ‘ N on -P ro fit’ enterprise
have a common source (not to say we
don’ t have the same problems among
whites in a sim ilar socio-economic
grouping — but who can afford it?).
I have drawn the reader’ s atten
tion to some basic preparation and
techniques I employed in structuring
several o f my successful enterprises.
Though these ventures were non
pro fit, the basic procedures and meth
odology were the exact same approach
employed in my “ for p ro fit” enter
prises and my business class designs
at the university. When you wish to
avail your-self o f people’ s money,
assistance or goodw ill, there are sev
eral starting points that w ill help alot.
Invest some o f your own and/or risk
some o f yourtime/resources in a dem
onstration project. You do believe,
don’t you?
So, why is it then that I have these
periodic tides o f com m unity activists
(or wannabes) that threaten to over-
whelm-me before I can get the door
firm ly shut or the phone under con
trol - they come in cycles, like lo
custs, or the swallows to Capistrano.
You wonder what environmental or
cultural factor activates them to visit
you, given that there has been a w orld
wide information explosion and “ how
to” expositions o f every process ever
conceived by man are now available
on the tube, C D -R O M or otherwise
easily retrievable.
A t first, you try reasoning w ith
the ‘ old heads’ who should know
better. “ Look, years ago when I was at
Portland State U niversity, I had time,
staff and support facilities including
stenographic services, photo repro
duction and meeting facilities - and
a mission to educate and prepare the
‘ youth’ for the very traumatic times
we are facing today (some o f you were
^Tortlanh (¡Observer
(USPS 959-680)
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tio n - is a member o f the National Newspaper Association-Founded in
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in my classes). N ow , her you are all
these years later w ith a game to inter
pose yourself between ‘ the man’ and
your brothers fo r a blood p ro fit (the
youth are dying in the street) and rip
me o ff too.”
“ You tell me 'w h o got some big
money’ and then insult me by o ffe r
ing me m inim um wages fo r time,
expertise and facilities after I tell you
good help is expensive - m an-pow er
$17.50 an hour, attorney $90, pro
posal w riter $30.00 - and that my
effective rate was $32.50 an hour
when I retired and later when doing
programs for the government, IB M
and the U.S. Forest Service and School
D istrict.
There are other problems beside
greed and ineptitude that besiege the
com m unity. Shenanigans go on w ith
individuals and organizations you’d
never suspect. Lawyers o f my ac
quaintance send me photostats o f cor
porate documents bearing my “ signa
ture” when I ’ ve never even heard o f
the group. “ Thought you m ight like to
see this Mac! - W e knew you didn’ t
have any part o f this o u tfit’ s opera
tion” . Y o u ’ d be surprised.
Tw ice in the last several years
I ’ve had to have my lawyer recover
monies from culprits who have forged
my name on a grant and on checks. I
suppose the authorities figure its no
use spending the taxpayer’ s money to
incarcerate them because they w ill
have to turn around and support their
wives and children on welfare - and
then, too, “ they only rip o ff other
blacks” . I have no problem at a ll w ith
people who are developing legitimate
programs to belter the comm unity
and who believe like I do in spending
their tim e and money to insure their
success. Continued next week.
New Safety And
Health Publication
Announced
A new publication to help farm
and ranch employers identify w ork
place hazards and reduce injuries and
illnesses is available at no cost.
“ Occupational Hazards Common
to Farming and Ranching in Oregon-
ASelf-InspectionChecklist” providcs
guidance to preventing and elim inat
ing hazards common to this industry.
The booklet was developed by the
Oregon O ccupational Safety and
Health D ivision (O r-O S H A ) at the
request o f the agricultural industry.
O R -O S H A ’ s Consultative Ser
vices Section has been w orking with
several employer associations to help
their industries reduce injuries and
illnesses. Easy-to-use booklets iden
tify in g workplace hazards have been
developed as one tool toward this
goal. In addition to the farm and
ranching b oo kle t, self-inspection
checklists w ill soon be available from
OR -O SH A for the retail food indus
try , construction and rem odeling,
automotive trades, and garbage haul
ing and recycling.
For a free copy o f any o f these
publications, or fo r a list o f other
inform ation materials, contact OR-
O S H A ’ s technical Resource Center
at (503) 378-3272 or 1 -800-922-2689
(message only).
the most addictive form o f the most
addictive drug known to man, is rap
idly becoming the new social drug o f
urban Am erica.
AN END TO THE COCAINE
EPIDEMIC?
What are the c hances o f the crack/
cocaine epidemic just spending itself
out or m oving into a fu ll epidemic o f
heroin and alcohol use? Many re
searchers (A n s le y H a m id /D a v id
Smith) suggest that downward trends
in cocaine use experienced in 1990-
91 indicate a retreat o f the fu ll scale
use o f cocaine found in the 1987-89
period. Some researches have sub
scribed to a theory that stim ulant drug
addiction is cyclic in nature and even
tually moves into a period where de
pressant drug use becomes more epi
demic. Significant increases in the
intranasal use and sm oking o f high
grade heroin in New Y o rk C ity, grow
ing alcohol use among crack using
populations, and increasing use o f IV
C iv il
More On Minority ‘Show’ Business
by
have become addicted. Senior males
become addicted as they frequentpros-
titutes who are cocaine addicts. Crack,
heroin on the west coast w ould seem
to support such beliefs.
Other researchers understanding
o f the crack/cocaine epidemic is that
it is not governed or motivated by any
one single cause or drug us trend, but
is the resu ltof a m u llip lic ity o f events.
These m ultiple factors w ould include
supply levels o f cocaine from Peru,
B olivia, and C olum bia, economic
conditions in U.S. inner cities, law
enforcement trends, prevention and
treatment efforts, and drug quality.
Crack cocaine use in 1994 has
become w ell integrated into patterns
o f prostitution and crim e in urban
America. A significant part o f the
community isdependenton the “ crack
economy” for housing, food, and in
come. Drug dealing, increasingly ac
complished by beeper and cellular
phone, is largely unseen by the gen
eral public. From where we sit the
cocaine epidemic has not retreated,
but moved into w orking populations
that are less visible, less like ly to be
arrested, and more lik e ly to continue
long term crack cocaine use.
¿Joupncil
Following The Doctor’s Orders
B ernice P owell J ackson
gcncy rooms to pay for the costs o f
HEN PEOPLE USE THE
TERM “RENAISSANCE
MAN"
THEY
ARE
USUALLY REFERRING TO A
PERSON HIGHLY CULTIVATED IN
BOTH THE ARTS AND SCIENCES,
LIKE THE ARTIST AND SCIENTIST
LEONARDO DA VINCI.
running the clinic.
B ut some evenings are devoted to
his other love, jazz. Trading his stetho
scope fo r the piano keyboard, Dr.
Myers has found another way to raise
funds fo r the Tchula health c lin ic -
through jazz concerts w ith his trio.
Dr. Myers developed a love for the
music o f his people at age 11, when he
began playing the trumpet. Today he
plays piano and trumpet not only in
surrounding M ississippi towns, but
in fund-raising concerts across the
country. Funds raised are used fo r the
c lin ic and fo r a m entoring program
for rural youth who have an interest in
medicine. He even keeps a piano at
the c lin ic to help relieve stress-both
his own and the patients’ .
Dr. M yers is a man o f many
talents driven to serve the people o f
the ru ra l M is s is s ip p i delta. The
founder and pastoroflheTchula Bible
Fellowship BaptistChurch, he clearly
believes that ministering to the people
o f God is a full-tim e, m ulti-faceted
by
There’ s a modern day renais
sance man liv in g and w orking in
rural M ississippi. Dr. Ronald Myers,
Sr. is a practicing physician in Tchula,
M ississippi. He’ s also a Baptist m in
ister and a jazz musician. And he’s
100 percent dedicated to providing
health care to the A frican Am erican
comm unity o f Tchula.
Tchulais a Mississippi delta com
m unity o f 2,000 people, many o f
whom are unemployed, w hile others
are agricultural w orkers,, most o f
whom live below the poverty line. Dr.
Myers originally came to work in
nearby Bclzioni, as a part o f his com
mitment to the National Public Health
Service, to repay his medical school
tuition. When he completed his ser
vice in Belzioni, he saw the need for
health care in Tchula, where there
had been no doctor in eight years, and
he established a rural health c lin ic
there.
L ittle did he expect to receive
resistance from the government. But
the county, state and federal govern
ments fe lt that thccom m unity was too
impoverished to support a clinic and
would supply no funds fo r his effort.
So, remembering the old slave adage
about God making a way out o f no
way, Dr. Myers used his own funds to
renovate a deserted restaurant for the
clinic and works days at the c lin ic and
ly nights
many
nights in
in nearby
nearby hospital
hospital emer-
emer
job.
Dr. M yers’ newest challenge is
taking on state and federal health care
issues as they impact his com m unity.
He challenged the M ississippi De
partment o f Health, w hich had never
hired an A frica n Am erican in one o f
its top 16 positions, w hile 80 percent
o f its A frican American employees
work in service and maintenance. He
also pointed to the Governor’ s C om
mission on Health Care, w hich had
only three A frican Americans out o f
its 31 members in a state w ith a 37
percent A frican Am erican popula
tion. “ There arc no A frica n A m e ri
cans sitting at the health care deci
sion-making tables in M ississippi,’
ississippi,
says Dr. Myers, “ so the people in the
comm unity can’ t be empowered,” he
added. The state has now set up a
m inority task force to make recom
mendations. Last summer those e f
forts led to a march and rally held in
downtown Jackson.
M eanwhile, Dr. M yers co ntin
ues to challenge the federal govern
ment and its refusal to support the
Tchula Fam ily Health C lin ic, w hile
planning to support a nearby new
clinic w ith no history o f service to the
poor people in his com m unity. As a
member o f the Interreligious Health
Care Access Campaign, he is in the
forefront o f challenging the health
care reforms proposed by the C linton
A dm in istra tio n to include q uality
health c a rt for rural people o f color.
Education is also important to
Dr. Myers. He devotes some o f his
own time to visiting schools and ta lk
ing to students about jazz and about
careers in medicine. Now he is spon
soring, together w ith the M ississippi
Legislative Black Caucus, a scries o f
health education activities on black
college campuses. The first is a con
ference in Jackson to be held in June.
Every now and then in life one
finds someone who destroys stereo
types. Ronald Myers, physician, jazz
musician, m inister, educator, com
m unity advocate is not a stereotypical
physician or musician or m inister. He
is truly a man fo r all seasons, a man
comm itted to his people, a renais
sance man in the M ississippi delta.
Thanks, Dr. Myers.
Thanks from us all.
( I f you w ould like to reach Dr.
Myers, w rite to the M yers Founda
tio n , P .O . B o x 6 3 7 , T c h u la ,
M ississippi 39169).
59169).
Demand More, Get More
.
.
.
W ith U.S. students ranking be
hind those in most developed coun
tries academically, w ith rising teen
age pregnancies and guns in schools,
parents and educators should be de
manding tougher standards. But in
the classroom and the liv in g room,
Americans are demanding less o f their
kids-and getting less. Parents need to
remember that great expectations are
the key to children’ s success.
To help build children’ s self con
«
O _______ ■_____ C t n n
i n r r ” t r i v n c r ing”
h ild r o
n ii f children
riim P U /i
gives
1. Rem em ber w h o ’ s who. Stan
dards are set by parents, society and
schools, not by kids. Make expecta
tions clear and don’ t send double
messages. Listen to your children, but
let them know that you set the rules.
2. D on ’ t accept q u ittin g . A c
cording to one expert, i f the average
Am erican student can’ t solve a math
problem w ith in 10 minutes, he gives
up. Teach your children to stick w ith
tasks and strive repeatedly for suc
cess.
3. G ive c h ild re n chores. Regu
lar, m eaningful household duties re
inforce responsibility to others, build
confidence, and help children view
themselves as valuable members o f
their fam ilies. A long-term study o f
inner-city males who grew up in the
1930s shows that those who had regu
lar chores as children proved to be
happier and more successful in every
respect o f their adult lives.
Illin o is.
A c h ild ’ s tasks can be basic, bug
“ Selfesteem and self confidence
should
carry clear responsibility. One
don’t come from being told you arc
7-year-old
was assigned to m onitor
great,” she adds. “ You get them by
the
fam
ily
soap
and toothpaste sup
facing challenges and mastering them
ply.
When
one
or
the other was about
through hard w ork and persistence.
to
run
out,
his
job
was to replace it
Parents must stop indulging c h il
from
the
cupboard
or go shopping
dren andcrcatc instead an atmosphere
w
ith
his
mother
to
stock
up.
o f high expectations, says the A p ril
4.
B
u
ild
scaffolding.
“ Scaffold-
1994 Reader’ s Digest. Here’s how:
fidence parents and educators try to
make children feel good about them
selves. Kids arc repeatedly reminded
they arc “ special” , praised for each
accomplishment, and rewarded for
their schoolwork not w ith grades but
w ith “ smiley faces” slickers o f ap
proval. W hat this translates into is
“ A nything I do is good enough,” says
L ilia n Kate, professor o f early c h ild
hood education at the University o f
a fram ework to
reach upward step-by-step. Scaffold
building parents seize opportunities
to equip children w ith skills to move
higher on their o w n -fo r example,
teaching a ch ild to use reference ma
terials to answer a question.
5. Encourage worthwhile fun.
Steer children towards after-school
activities that involve the m ind and
foster independence, like reading,
m odel-building, stamp collecting or
cooking. One California study showed
/ ’latchkey children” were least lik e ly
to get into trouble when parents set
parameters foraftcr-school recreation.
6. Don’t solve their problems.
It’ s easy for adults to step in when
things go wrong for a c h ild -a n argu
ment w ith a playmate, a lost library
book, an overspent allowance. I t ’ s
painful to sit back when a ch ild is
being published for misbehaving in
school. Yet each o f these tough mo
ments teaches important lcssons-thal
actions produce consequences.
7. Point the way to the stars.
The key to a c h ild ’ s confidence and
success is support from parents, teach
ers and other adults. Once you make
it clear that you expect the best from
your children, offer encouragement
to help them achieve their goals.