Faculty Collaboration Database

From bag brides to skeezers: a historical perspective on sex-for-drugs behavior. J Psychoactive Drugs 1992;24(4):349-61

Date

10/01/1992

Pubmed ID

1491284

DOI

10.1080/02791072.1992.10471659

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0027078226 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   41 Citations

Abstract

There are many ways that women support their use of crack cocaine, including sex-for-crack bartering and other forms of prostitution. Empirical studies conducted in the mid-1970s and in the mid-1980s in New York City, and in Chicago in the late 1980s to early 1990s are compared, analyzing similarities and differences between the contemporary crack-prostitution scene and previous prostitution scenes. Findings suggest that the arrival of crack cocaine has directly and indirectly affected the drugs-prostitution nexus by lowering the price of sex for street prostitutes, altering the social status of cocaine, and increasing the level of social disorganization in illicit street activities, including prostitution. Barterers are shown to be the heaviest drug users, using the greatest variety of drugs, using larger amounts of drugs, and using more frequently.

Author List

Goldstein PJ, Ouellet LJ, Fendrich M

Author

Michael Fendrich PhD Professor in the Emergency Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Adult
Chicago
Crack Cocaine
Female
History, 20th Century
Humans
Male
New York City
Sex Work
Substance-Related Disorders
United States