Date of Award
Spring 5-11-2011
Degree Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
As an eleven-year-old, he tried alcohol; at twelve he smoked marijuana; and by sixteen he was stealing car radios to support his cocaine habit.1 Over a four-month period he spent $4,000 on crack and cocaine.2 This boy from Long Island was given a choice: jail or drug rehabilitation––he chose the latter.3 Janet, an 18 year old from Harlem, had a different choice. Janet found out she was pregnant around the same time that crack became more prevalent in her neighborhood.4 She quickly became a crack addict and her addiction continued even after the birth of her son–– a baby who was born with traces of cocaine in his system.5 Janet's mother gave her two options: get help or she would sue for custody of her grandchild. Janet went into a residential treatment program located in upstate New York while her mother cared for her baby.6
Recommended Citation
Wolfe, Noel K., "Portrait of a Drug: Representations of Crack in the New York Times, 1985-1995" (2011). African & African American Studies Senior Theses. 33.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/aaas_senior/33
