The crack epidemics impact on black communities 91. A number of writers have alleged that the united states central intelligence agency cia was involved in cocaine trafficking during the 1980s. Measuring crack cocaine and its impact harvard university. In 1996, a bombshell report by journalist gary webb claimed that the central intelligence agency cia supported cocaine trafficking into the u. Cia involvement in trafficking is usually alleged to be connected to the contra war in nicaragua a. Key figures in ciacrack cocaine scandal begin to come forward. Blandon and meneses were said to have used their drug trafficking profits to help fund the contra armys war effort. The true story of the 1980s crack epidemic is still untold. Conspiracy theories can often ring true the washington post. These claims have led to investigations by the united states government, including hearings and reports by the united states house of representatives, senate, department of justice, and the cias office of the inspector general. Eventually, there became a glut in the market of too much cocaine and not enough profits for the drug dealers. The crack index aimed to create a proxy for the percentage of cocaine related incidents that. Special reports cocaine, conspiracy theories and the cia.
God, if we just had more kids his age asking this question in our schools. In the 1980s, many government officials, scientists and journalists warned that the country would be plagued by a. Heres how the crack epidemic brought a city to its knees. Crack has destroyed families and, in many ways, destroyed communities, which still suffer the effects of crime, druguse, and incarceration. This resulted in a number of social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in american inner city neighborhoods, as well as a resulting backlash in the form of tough on crime. Crack cocaine was popularized because of its affordability, its immediate euphoric effect, and its high profitability. The 1980s crack epidemic crack usage began to surge in the 1980s. Others however argued that this is not true and that its some sort of liberal agenda to demonize reagans term. Based on a yearlong investigation, reporter gary webb wrote that during the 1980s the cia helped finance its covert war against nicaraguas leftist government through sales of cutrate cocaine to south central l. According to the stories, the cia and its operatives used crack cocainesold.
The cia certainly assisted the contras, and the contras had known cocaine ties. The cia, contras, gangs, and crack institute for policy. The crack epidemic in washington dc 4036 words 17 pages. Aaron dixon, the former seattle chapter captain for the black panther party, is writing a book on the impact of crack cocaine on black communities. Crack epidemic united states history 1980s britannica. Crack, a potent form of smokeable cocaine developed in the early 1980s, begins to flourish in the new york region. Between 1985 and 1989, the number of regular cocaine users jumped from 4. A series of expose articles in the san jose mercurynews by reporter gary webb told tales of a drug. By 1985, cocainerelated hospital emergencies rose by. The high amount of people in jail is a direct result of the crack epidemic, which was started by the cia. A commonheld belief was that the cia flooded the black community with crack so. After reading about gary webb exposing the cias potential complicity in l. Jun 04, 2019 crack cocaine, swept throughout the us in the 1980s as an inexpensive and easily accessible drug. By 1985, cocainerelated hospital emergencies rose by 12 percent, from.
Neighborhoods and families were severely impacted by this epidemic. The method is to dissolve cocaine hydrochloride into water with sodium bicarbonate baking soda, which precipitates solid masses of cocaine crystals. Cia involvement in contra cocaine trafficking wikipedia. Aug 30, 2012 one of the most talked about conspiracy theories of the mid80s and early 90s had to do with the crack epidemic. Mchenry claims that the films main character, nino brown. It refuted charges that cia officials knew that their nicaraguan allies were dealing drugs.
Dec 31, 2004 crack, the cia and black americas drug crisis. Hello reddit, i was doing a little research on the crack epidemic of the 1980s and from what i read the cia introduce crack cocaine to the u. Fisher then allegedly introduced him to cocaine and drug dealing. The cia, the drug dealers, and the tragedy of gary webb in 1996, journalist gary webb began looking into links between nicaraguas drugrunning contra rebels and the cia. A thoughtful comparison of the governments response to crack. He wrote that the huge influx of cocaine happened to come at just the time that. The crack epidemic in the united states was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the united states between the early 1980s. A decade after he allegedly retired from the crack business, ricky ross was set up by a dea informantdanilo blandon. Did the cia play a role in launching the crack cocaine epidemic. The federal governments impact on the crack epidemic in the district of colombia cutler fisher amst 3950w april 15, 2012 the term epidemic is typically used in relation to the spread of a disease however. A media frenzy around the crack epidemic created a hysteria that meant support for his lawandorder policy approach to drug use. Committee members heard testimony from experts and current administration officials concerning accusations by several members of congress and others that the cia sold drugs to u. Crack produces an instantaneous, brief euphoric high for its users, followed by. According to new york state statistics, there were 182,000 regular cocaine users in new york city in 1986.
One of the most talked about conspiracy theories of the mid80s and early 90s had to do with the crack epidemic. The use of crack cocaine reached epidemic proportions in this country at the end of the 1980s. Crack cocainea crystallized form of the drugbecame popular in the 1980s. The cias collusion with anticommunist drug smugglers beginning in the 1960s played a direct role in the drug epidemic of the 1980s that was used to. History of crack cocaine the recovery village ridgefield. Allegations of a cia connection to crack cocaine epidemic select. Thirty years of americas drug war drug wars frontline. While much of the ciacontradrug story had been revealed years ago in the. Even ross saw cocaine at 19 in 79, so it was established well before the crack epidemic of the 80s, and likely without cia assistance.
The reagan administration and the cia also collaborated with nicaraguan cocaine traffickers to support the contras led to the crack epidemic of the 1980s. Nicaraguan drug rebels were exporting drugs for money, with the cias covert assistance. The emergence of crack cocaine started in the 1970s and 1980s during the boom in cocaines recreational use. The igs report cleared the cia of complicity with the innercity crack cocaine trade. Cooper was a journalist for the village voice, who had received acclaim for a 1987 story about the crack epidemic in detroit titled kids killing kids. A november 1985 new york times cover story brings the drug to national attention. In the 1980s, cocaine was a club drug, glamorized by rumors of exploits of celebrities in the hollywood hills of california, and the clubs of new york city, but when the supply got too high and the. Crack more than tripled the number of cocaine users in the city since 1986. Americas racist response to the crack epidemic must inform the way we tackle opioids as pharmaceutical companies start to be held accountable, we need to.
In the early 1980s blandon was selling cocaine to henry corrales and claudio. The national response to the crack epidemic of the 1980s crack is a form of cocaine that is processed with baking soda to form small crystalline clumps crack rocks that users smoke in glass pipes and crackles as it burns, hence its name. Revisiting the crack babies epidemic that was not the. Ciacontracrack cocaine controversy department of justice. Unlike powder cocaine, crack was easier to develop, more cost efficient to produce, and cheaper to buy, which made it more economically accessible. It is now axiomatic that although the crack epidemic of the 1980s devastated communities of color, the legal and political responses to the crisis compounded the tragedy. On august 18, 1996, the san jose mercury news published the first installment of a threepart series of articles concerning crack cocaine, the central intelligence agency cia, and the nicaraguan contra army. Due to the unique characteristics associated with crack addiction and the populations that use it, the epidemic created a host of new problems for the public health and drug treatment commu nities. Then take a look at 37 startling photos of 1980s new york city, when crack was king. A number of writers have alleged that the united states central intelligence agency was involved in cocaine trafficking during the 1980s. Is franklin saint from snowfall based on a real person.
According to one article, the cocaine that flooded in through blandons drug ring helped spark a crack explosion in. By 2002, the united kingdom was experiencing their own crack epidemic, with the number of crack addicts seeking help climbing nearly 50% that year. Crack cocaine the great conspiracy to destroy the black male. A powerful series by investigative reporter gary webb of the san jose mercury news says the answer may be yesand the charge. Central intelligence agency ties to drug trafficking and the 1980s crack cocaine epidemic that devastated neighborhoods, destroyed families and. In the 1980s, the soviet union and allies participated in a widespread disinformation campaign. How one journalist linked the cia to the crack epidemic and. Racist ideas distorted drug policies in reagans america. New jack city eats its young, the article was one of the first exposes of the effects of the crack epidemic on innercity communities. In 1986, the agency added some more names to its payroll by creating a new. Crips to sell crack in cincinnati in 1987 and that he sold cocaine.
Dark alliance how the cia created the crack epidemic in the. The series claimed that ross rise in the drug world was made possible by. Revisiting the crack babies epidemic that was not video retro report. Aug 31, 2018 the cias collusion with anticommunist drug smugglers beginning in the 1960s played a direct role in the drug epidemic of the 1980s that was used to justify president reagans 1986 crime bill. Special reports cocaine, conspiracy theories and the cia in. The cia, contras, gangs, and crack institute for policy studies. Dark alliance how the cia created the crack epidemic in the 1980s earlier one of our younger duers asked why reagan was so bad. Although our crack index remains high through the 1990s, the deleterious social impact of crack fades. Between 1985 and 1989, the number of regular cocaine users jumped from.
Crack epidemic, the significant increase in the use of crack cocaine, or crack, in the united states during the early 1980s. Did the cia really introduce cocainecrack to the u. A series of expose articles in the san jose mercurynews by reporter gary webb told tales of a drug triangle during the 1980s that linked cia officials in central america, a san francisco drug ring. The crack epidemic the history of crack cocaine drugfree. This resulted in a number of social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in american inner city neighborhoods, as well as a resulting backlash in the form of tough on crime policies. Did the cia play a role in launching the crackcocaine epidemic. The cia, the drug dealers, and the tragedy of gary webb. The uk reported an increase of 74% in seizures of crack cocaine in drug raids between 2000 and 2006. The cia, the drug dealers, and the tragedy of gary webb telegraph. The crack epidemic in the united states was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the united states between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. After 3 years, crack plague in new york only gets worse. Okay, so then how involved was the cia in importing the most important ingredient cocaine. Ross now faces life in prison while blandon, who served 26 months in jail for.
Essay about the crack cocaine epidemic of the mid 1980s. Dark alliance was a series written by californiabased reporter webb and published in the san jose mercury news in 1996. The crack epidemic had particularly devastating effects within the african american communities of the. It started when webb wrote a series of three articles for the san jose mercury news in 1996 dubbed dark alliance. Drug enforcement agency dea, the price of illegal cocaine dropped by as much as 80 percent during. Americas racist response to the crack epidemic must. Snowfall is a onehour drama set against the infancy of the crack cocaine epidemic and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it. We find that our measure of crack can explain much of the rise in black youth homicides, as well as more moderate increases in a wide range of adverse birth outcomes for blacks in the 1980s. In 1996 the agency was accused of being a crack dealer. Now, webbs bombshell expose is being explored anew in a documentary, freeway.
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