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Detroit Crack Ethnography Project

NCJ Number
121912
Author(s)
T Mieczkowski
Date Published
1989
Length
71 pages
Annotation
Information from a literature review and from interviews with 100 self-reported crack cocaine distributors in Detroit formed the basis of this analysis of activities related to the sale, manufacture, use, and distribution of crack cocaine.
Abstract
The participants were all recruited from a local drug treatment facility. They included 77 males and 23 females. Ninety-three percent were black; the rest were white. The interviews were tape-recorded and used both structured and open-ended items. Fifty-five participants reported fulltime conventional employment, while 38 were unemployed. Ninety-seven reported using alcohol, with use beginning at an average age of 14.5, and 98 reported using marijuana. Seventy had sold marijuana; forty-four reported using heroin, with use beginning later than for marijuana or alcohol; eighty-seven reported using powder cocaine, and 95 reported becoming crack-dependent. Average crack use was 12.97 "dimes" or $10 units per day. Crack houses were the preferred sources of crack. These houses varied widely in their practices and activities. However, no centralized and tightly controlled organizations were responsible for crack distribution in the city. More than 150 street names were used for crack. 30 references.