The participants were the 23 females among the 100 self-reported dealers and user/dealers of crack cocaine. The interviews lasted from 1 to 3 hours. All the female participants were black and were clients of a drug treatment facility. They were all crack users who considered themselves addicted to the drug. Their mean age was 30.4 years; they ranged from 21 to 50 years of age. They worked at many levels within drug distribution systems for crack cocaine as well as other drugs. Results revealed that females experience many of the same problems common to all drug dealers, as well as some problems that are unique to their gender. The problems common to all drug dealers centered around violence and its consequences, the problems of order maintenance while conducting business, and the need to exert self-control around the drug inventory. Problems related to their gender included the potential for exploitation by mates, either through manipulation of a trusted male or predation by males who regarded women as weak and inappropriate in the business of selling cocaine. As a consequence, they cope with these problems in unique ways. They often invoked the protection of either real or fictional males, although the use of that protection could itself be risky. 9 references