Arms against Illness

Crack Cocaine and Drug Policy in the United States

Bibliographic Data

ID12440203
AuthorsBeverly Xaviera Watkins, BX Watkins (Columbia University, corresponding author), Robert E Fullilove, RE Fullilove, Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MT Fullilove
Year1998
Volume2
Issue4
Pages42-42
Publication date1998-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHealth and Human Rights (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1079-0969 • E-ISSN: 2150-4113
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/4065186
PMID10347367
OpenAlexW2403684715
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited7

The emergence of crack cocaine use in the United States during the mid-1980s was one of the most significant public health problems of that era. Crack use contributed to a series of sexually transmitted disease epidemics, to epidemic increases in violent injuries and homicides, and to significant increases in the incidence and prevalence of cocaine addiction. Despite these threats to health and safety, a national public health campaign to counter crack-related morbidity and mortality was never mounted. To the contrary, the strongest response to the crack epidemic has come from the police and the courts. As a result, crack-related crimes have accounted for dramatic increases in the numbers of adolescents and adults imprisoned in the United States. Scarce attention to the public health dimensions of these policies, let alone the human rights implications, has been catastrophic for affected individuals and communities

Addiction · Crack cocaine · Criminology · Environmental health · Injury prevention · Poison control · Political science · Psychiatry · Public health · Public health policy · Public policy · Sociology · Suicide prevention · Demography · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Medicine · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes · Health Policy

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