NCJ Number
120056
Date Published
1989
Length
140 pages
Annotation
Through the author's careful observation of individuals involved in a cocaine ring in New York City from 1982 to 1986, this book profiles eight young cocaine dealers.
Abstract
For 4 years, the author spent some 2 hours a day, three days a week, hanging out with the kids in cocaine bars, after-hours spots, discos, restaurants, crack houses, street corners, in their homes, and at family gatherings and parties. The book chronicles drug misuse, the mechanics of distribution, and the sexual behavior of drug users and drug sellers. At the core of the book, however, lies the kids' own stories of their lives, including their struggles with family problems, the attraction of high incomes, girlfriends and boyfriends, running a business, and making decisions about their futures. The youth profiled are sophisticated cocaine distributors, wholesalers, and retailers. A primary attraction of the cocaine business is that it offers them a way to make large amounts of money in a society that offers them few constructive alternatives for power, prestige, and wealth. Those who left the cocaine business had a stake in something else, namely, jobs, new families, and educational goals. Glossary, subject index.