How Do Drug Use Structural Inequality

Question 1:
The use of drugs by the human race has had a long and sordid history of abuse. While many drugs are beneficial and helpful to the human condition, addictive behaviors and loss of control due to substance abuse are the negative flip side of drugs in our society. There are many theories which attempt to explain drug use, including the biologically based ‘disease of the brain’ model, structural inequality, and symbolic interactionism. I will first review these three different theoretical frameworks by which drug use can be understood. I will also identify the advantages and disadvantages of the different theories. Finally, I will make the case that structural inequality is the best theoretical model by which to understand drug use.

A prime example of how economic and social inequalities impact drug use and general societal perception of drug users is the way crack users in the Hill District are treated and perceived as opposed to their wealthier cocaine-using counterparts in greater Pittsburgh. Both cocaine and crack are derived from the same source, the coca plant, and both have very similar pharmacology. The main difference between the drugs is that crack is the freebased form of cocaine which makes it smokeable and much cheaper, due to the freebasing agent still being present in the final product. The freebasing agent adds bulk to the product, allowing small amounts of pure cocaine to be made into large amounts of crack. The other main difference between these drugs is the price; pure cocaine is much more expensive than crack, making cocaine a drug for the rich and crack a drug for the poor. The impact of this disparity is frequently seen in treatment of crack users from the Hill District who are often perceived and treated as criminals; whereas the cocaine users in greater Pittsburgh, are more likely to be perceived and treated as ‘chemically dependent’ individuals who need to be sent away to fancy rehab facilities to receive treatment. Their crack using counterparts are, as statistics show, more frequently sent to prison (Kushner, 2010). This difference in the way that crack users are treated and perceived by the general society clearly shows the structural inequality associated with the use of drugs. Another disproportionate impact that drug use has on the Hill District is the slum-like and chaotic atmosphere surrounding the drug culture. The Hill District is well known as a destination where one can engage in drug associated risky behaviors including commercial sex. This concentration of risky behaviors in a single neighborhood