Based on ethnographic research of street crack cocaine users, this book unpacks the myths and stigma of their drug use and their fragile position in society in an effort to better understand them.

Providing insight into drug use from the point of view of female users, this book tells of the complex lives, challenges, and choices of women who use crack cocaine. While popular images of these women present them simply as unreliable individuals, unfit mothers, and women who will do almost anything for crack, Claire Sterk's years of ethnographic research reveal the nature and meaning of crack cocaine use in the larger context of their lives -- including the impact of such issues as gender, class, and race. Focusing on active crack users, Fast Lives compiles information from participant observation, informal conversations, individual interviews, and group discussions. Sterk details the ways in which use affects the lives of these crack users. She captures how these women arrived at their use; how they survive under current circumstances, such as the constant threat of HIV/AIDS and violence; how they combine the multiple social roles of mother and drug user; and how -- as they share their aspirations and expectations for the future -- their stories underscore the effects of poverty, sexism, and racism on their lives. Many of these women recognize their own responsibility for ensuring positive change. Sterk's book, which includes an argument for a harm reduction approach, reminds us that their strength and courage will too often be futile without social policies that are realistic and appropriate for women. Fast Lives will engage readers interested in social problems as well as students of cultural anthropology, sociology, criminology, public health, ethnography, substance abuse, and women's health.

A team of veteran drug researchers in medicine, law, and the social sciences provides the most comprehensive, penetrating, and original analysis of the crack cocaine problem in America to date. Helps readers understand why the United States has the most repressive, expensive, yet least effective drug policy in the Western world.

Humphries (sociology, anthropology, and criminal justice, Rutgers U.) analyzes reactions to crack cocaine use, particularly by women, and critiques the policies instituted to combat it. She argues that policies of zero tolerance, mandatory sentences, and interdiction have failed to reduce drug use, increased the sense of persecution among the urban poor, and contributed to court and prison overcrowding. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The crack cocaine years: from deviant globalization to the 'get money' culture of late twentieth-century America.

This book provides information on the dangers of cocaine and crack cocaine, a stimulant drug that affects the central nervous system. Use of the drug can result in sudden death, even upon first time use. Within this book, readers will learn about the long and short-term effects of cocaine and crack cocaine which include physical addiction, emotional addiction, expense, health problems, arrest for drug possession, and for other drug-related crime and overdose. Personal stories of teens who used drugs and the realities they faced invite the reader to understand the effects of the drug on a personal level. These stories seamlessly unfold along with advice on how to deal with peer pressure when choosing to say no. Most importantly, there is an entire chapter devoted to getting help. This book is an essential resource and provides concise information about a difficult topic.