The problem of drug abuse has been seriously influencing the history of the United States for the past centuries. One of the substances, which gave rise to much attention of the public, media, and government, is called crack cocaine. It appeared in the middle of the 20th century and today, the period of the 1980s to 2000 is regarded as the crack years in the United States. This drug appeared to be important for the history of the country as it demonstrated the disadvantages of the existing system, gave way for multiple political movements, and influenced most aspects of life, including people’s behavior and legislation.
Crack is a drug, which was originally made as a combination of cocaine and baking powder and it appeared in the market long after ordinary cocaine. This substance had a huge development throughout history: initially, it was acceptable for medical purposes, but after it was proven to be destructive for health, dealers began selling it as a drug. The first appearance of crack was registered in large cities such as Los Angeles, Miami, and New York around 1985 (Frontline, n.d.). According to the US Drug Enforcement Agency, by the late 1970s, there was a tendency to the redundancy of cocaine powder, which led to “the price of the drug to drop by as much as 80%” (Foundation for a Drug-Free World International, n.d., para. 2). Drug dealers used this situation to convert the illegal powder to crack, a type of cocaine aimed at smoking purposes.
As a result, this form of the drug had affordable prices compared to cocaine and, for this reason, became popular in working class and poor neighborhoods. David Farber in his book Crack: Rock Cocaine, Street Capitalism, and the Decade of Greed explained that it influenced these groups because they “believed they had to smoke crack to find pleasure and release from their dire circumstances” (Farber, 2019, p. 6). People of this social level did not have money for better drugs and they often had no good in their lives, so the distributors used it as a quick way for destructing these communities. Crack demonstrated the disadvantages of the 20th century capitalism, which changed industrialization to a service economy. As a result, people began losing their jobs and, in many cases, their hopes. Many of the victims of this situation commenced taking substances to escape from their reality, while others turned to drug distribution to make a living. In addition, the spreading of AIDS in the America of that time has also contributed to the popularity of crack as people understood that needles were potentially dangerous, and this form of the drug helped to evade this risk.
In the period from 1986 to 1988, the public tension surrounding crack increased as the problem became more serious than powder cocaine and the media began attracting attention to it. In relation to this, Congress imposed mandatory sentencing laws, increasing the penalties for possessing or distributing the drug. According to the statistics, “the ratio between sentences for crack and powder cocaine offenses was set at 100 to 1”, which meant that “a low level crack dealer” received “harsher penalties than a higher level powder cocaine dealer” (Frontline, n.d., para. 8). However, soon, it became obvious that this law caused a serious case of racial discrimination as the most severe punishments for crack cocaine were imposed on black citizens. According to the study, “almost 2/3 of crack users in the US were white or Hispanic, 84.5% of those convicted for crack possession were black, while 10.3% were white and 5.2% were Hispanic” (Frontline, n.d., para. 9). Similarly, “of those convicted for crack trafficking in 1994, 88.3% were black, while 4.1% were white and 7.1% were Hispanic” (Frontline, n.d., para. 9). The existence of this disparity led to the appearance of multiple political movements, trying to confront the situation.
As a response to crack, there appeared organizations, aimed at standing against the politicians, who passed racially-biased laws, which implied more strict punishments for crack dealers than for cocaine distributors. This situation resulted in the imprisonment of record numbers of young black men. The attempts to change those punitive policies failed due to the political popularity of the drug war, making this focus on African Americans objectively racist. In 1995, the US Sentencing Commission gave recommendations to eliminate this disparity, however, Congress and the Clinton administration rejected it (Frontline, n.d., para. 10). Instead of solving the problem of discrimination, the president of the United States declared the “war on drugs”, which led to a rise in criminal activity as the number of murders in the country increased (Los Angeles Times, 2020, para. 7). The situation with crack, which appeared to be a drug crisis for the United States, showed that it was a period of numerous political failures, which can serve as a lesson to consider for the future.
However, while crack caused a big number of conflicts and deaths, it also influenced the country’s culture in many aspects and became an aspiration for numerous books, movies, songs, and TV shows. From the beginning of the crack cocaine period, it became associated with pop culture, especially hip-hop, as many artists were dealers. Such famous artists as Jay-Z or Chamber Brothers made their first fortune in drug distribution. According to Jay-Z, “there was no hiding it, no shame. People were just standing around smoking crack outside like it was normal. That’s not normal. People in those communities just lost control” (Gonzales, 2014, para. 13). From this perspective, crack was a guarantee of success in the period of 1980-1990s, and people were using it as a way to make a living and have a start for a good career.
In conclusion, crack cocaine is one of the most famous drugs in the history of the United States as its abuse developed into a crisis, having influenced the whole life and culture of the country. This substance for smoking became popular in the middle of the 20th century due to its low price and absence of AIDS risks when using drugs such as heroin. Crack became widespread in poor neighborhoods as people there had problems with jobs and needed a way to escape from this reality. Moreover, it became a starting point for multiple artists, who made their first money selling drugs and later made a big contribution to culture. The situation with crack also gave rise to the problem of discrimination in America as people sentenced for drug dealing were mostly black, and the government did not take measures for eliminating this disparity. From a historical perspective, it is important that people understand the roots of this crisis in the United States. It is essential to make the right conclusions in order to prevent repeating the same mistakes as modern drug users are looking toward alternatives to opioids.
References
Farber, D. (2019). Crack: Rock cocaine, street capitalism, and the decade of greed. Cambridge UP.
Frontline. (n.d.). A social history of America’s most popular drugs. Web.
Gonzales, M.A. (2014). Still Smokin’: 30 Years of crack’s influence on pop culture. Ebony. Web.
Los Angeles Times. (2020). Editorial: The 1980s crack epidemic was a fork in the road. America chose racism and prisons over public health. Web.