Crack use and trafficking in low-income, minority communities in New York City have pushed into prominence many aspects of drug use/misuse and distribution that had formerly received inadequate attention; for example, the generation and reinvestment of drug incomes are important determinants of how various drugs are experienced. Although in retrospect marijuana trafficking has apparently been a benign affair, crack trafficking is fast-paced, ruthless, steeped in violence, and impoverishes everyone who is engaged in it. This article notes differences between the rates, volumes, and methods of income generation related to the use and distribution of marijuana and cocaine. The contrast raises the question about whether economies similar to drug distribution follow a particular rhythmic pattern (capital accumulation during the benign marijuana passage followed by capital depletion in the overheated crack era), and how it is related to the changing demands of the regional economy. Viewed from this perspective, drug distributors and users appear not so much as "deviant" or "alienated" or as a "reserve pool of labor," but rather as a type of labor force that does indispensable work for the whole society. 54 references