Drugs, Hyperactivity, and Black Schoolchildren

Beginning around 1968, there occurred a sharp upturn in public attention given to the Many scholars and critics viewed the apparent concern about illegal drug with cynicism. They correctly pointed out that heroin addiction and associated crime had ravaged urban black communities for many years. Federal, state and local governments ignored or made only token efforts to assist those communities and individuals victimized by drugs and drug-related crimes. As long as citizens and their political representatives associated illegal drugs with the residents of poor and minority communities little attention was given to the problem. The alarm and subsequent governmental response seemed related to two factors: (1) a sharp increase in the number of middle-class youth addicted to heroin and other drugs, and, (2) citizens began to be affected by crimes commited by addicts seeking money to maintain expensive and illicit drug habits. It is safe to say that at this point abuse met the conditions for definition as a social problem.1 Once drug was so defined, society moved to establish agencies to investigate and make recommendations about the problem. It quickly became apparent that very little was known about the phenomenon of drug use and addiction. The scientific data concerning physical effects were sketchy and inconclusive. Even less was known about the psychological and sociological variables related to drug use. The concurrent popularity of psychodelic and non-addictive drugs like LSD and mescaline further complicated the picture. Despite a spate of reports and recommendations from medical, legal and science groups, the nation lurched on with no real perspective on the issue of drug abuse. The second

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder · Clinical Psychology · Psychedelics and Drug Studies · Psychology

• Operation Sail

  Open Access•Jane L Panagos, Rita L Holmes et al.•Urban Education•1981

  Add to list