Substance Abuse Increasing In Inner-city Minorities

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Recommended: Introduction on impact of mass media on youth

Substance Abuse Increasing in Inner-City Minorities

Substance abuse is an ever increasing epidemic facing America's inner- city minorities. There are several different drugs that are gaining popularity amongst inner-city youths 1. Juice, that is marijuana soaked in embalming fluid is starting to show up in more and more inner east coast cities 2. Crack or rock cocaine is by far one of the most addicting drugs out there, it's been engulfing
America's inner-cities since the early 80's 3. Heroin, is also making a comeback
4. Alcohol and marijuana are still very popular in the lower and upper classes 5.
There are some very distinctive differences in the substance abuse seen in the less fortunate classes and the abuse in the middle and upper classes. The upper classes drug of choose is powder cocaine. The less fortunate classes prefer rock cocaine. Alcohol is popular in both classes but also in different forms. The upper and middle class teenagers seem to want to experiment more with designer or new age drugs. The reason that there is so much media hype about the drug abuse amongst the poor is because the rich have the political power to cover it up, the poor don't.
Crack is cocaine mixed with baking soda and cooked in to rock form 6.
Even though crack and cocaine are the same drug (just in different forms) the courts give out stiffer sentences for crack offenders than powder cocaine offenders 7. According to federal law if a person is caught with five grams of crack they get a mandatory five year sentence 8. To get a five year sentence for trafficking powder cocaine a person would have to be caught with 500 grams 9.
African-Americans account for 88.3 percent of all federal crack distributors 10.
This sentencing shows how the judicial system goes harder on black people for drug violations than whites 11.
The upper and middle class teens do there far share of drugs 12.
Growing more and more popular amongst upper and middle class teenagers is a drug called Ritilin 13. Ritilin, was designed to help children suffering for ADHD 14.
The teenagers get a hold of some Ritilin and mash it in to a powder and snort it like cocaine 15. "It gives you the same feeling that cocaine does " say on collage freshman 16. Another very poplar drug amongst the upper class teenagers is nitris-oxide better known as l...

... middle of paper ...

...e a presenter who is from their kind of environment. Also, this holds true for the middle and upper class children. For example, if a valley girl from
Beverly Hills goes to Harlem and tells her tales of how she inhaled huge balloons filled with laughing gas everyday, it would no purpose because the children would have no clue what she was talking about.

ENDNOTES

1. Leland,74
2. Leland,74
3. Smolowe,44
4. Smolowe,45
5. Leland,75
6. Leland,74
7.Smolowe,44
8.Leland,75
9.Leland,75
10.Leland,74
11. Leland,75
12. Smolowe,45
13. Leland,75
14. Smolowe,44
15. Smolowe,45
16. Smolowe, 44
17. Leland,75
18. Leland,74
19. Smolowe,44

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