Cocaine and Crack: Proletariat Hunger

Cocaine and Crack: Proletariat Hunger Killers or Genussmittels?

Cocaine and crack cocaine are generally discussed as two of the greatest scourges facing western civilization. Especially crack cocaine, which along with crystal meth, is a drug of choice for America's poor and underprivileged, is assigned much of the blame for the squalor and violence of today's inner city lives.

Our readings have made two bold statements, which both overlap and conflict with one another. However, both statements are incredibly helpful in understanding crack and cocaine's impact on American society, especially upon the poorer elements of American society.

Crack and cocaine have been termed "proletariat hunger killers," meaning the drugs are used by the public as a necessary food source. The drugs have also been called "genussmittels," or recreational drug, free of any valuable sustenance. Research on the biological, economic and emotional impacts of these drugs reveals that they are, indeed, a bit of both; but some facets of the two definitions conflict.

The drugs:

Cocaine, a powerfully reinforcing psychostimulant, is found in the leaves of the South American shrub erythroxylon coca. (www.cocaine.org)

The coca leaf itself has had a long history, appearing even in our kitchen-table Coca-Cola for a while, with cocaine as an element. (www.cocaine.org) in fact, the popular and seemingly beneficial an legal usage of the drug did not stop there: "Cocaine was soon sold over-the-counter. Until 1916, one could buy it at Harrods: a kit labelled "A Welcome Present for Friends at the Front" contained cocaine, morphine, syringes and spare needles." (www.cocaine.org)

Crack is cocaine that has not at all been neutralized by an acid to make the requisite hydrochloride salt. This form, not derivative, of cocaine comes in a rock crystal that can be heated and its vapors smoked. The nomenclature "crack" refers to the crackling sound heard when it is heated in a pipe. (http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofax/cocaine.html)

The effects:

Both drugs are considered among the most harmful by both drug experts and the authorities in the United States of America. The actual effects of cocaine and crack use include constricted blood vessels, dilated pupils, and increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. (ibid)

The duration of cocaine's immediate euphoric effects, which include hyperstimulation, reduced fatigue, and mental clarity, depends on the route of administration. The faster the absorption, the more intense the high. On the other hand, the faster the absorption, the shorter the duration of action. The high from snorting may last 15 to 30 minutes, while that from smoking may last 5 to 10 minutes. Increased use can reduce the period of time a user feels high and increases the risk of addiction." (ibid)

Generally, users of the drugs will report restlessness and anxiety among many other "highs." They will generally respond to these feelings by entering depressions or simply increasing the dosages.

Impact and analysis:

There is a very close connection between cocaine and crack use and crime. This fits in with the definition "proletariat hunger killers." In a classic tale of chicken and egg, it is impossible to tell whether the crime resulted from drug use, or the drug use resulted from crime.

Here are some hard facts: "A close connection exists between crime and drug use. And it can be seen in researches, one such is the United States National Institute of Justice. They monitored drug use among recently arrested persons. Urine tests were conducted on males individuals that were charged with serious but non-drug-related offenses. With nearly 3,000 test, results were drug positive for cocaine in 76% of the arrestees in New York, 74% in Philadelphia, 65% in the district of Columbia. In smaller cities the % was below 30. The test they used detected drugs taken up to 2-3 day prior to the arrests, so drug use is probably higher than the results obtained. In this study one-fourth to three-fourth of the serious non-drug related offenders tested positive for cocaine, many tested positive for other drugs." (http://www.drugaddiction.ca/EnglishPage/Drug_addiction_Impact.htm)

This incredibly high rate of crime more directly reflects the proletariat hunger killer analogy: The inner city lower classes use cocaine, and especially crack, as their food, food that is much more relevant in an area rampant with crime. Where crack is both the end and the currency, it acts successfully as a substitute for food itself.

As for the genussmittels terminology, the crime aspect does not as closely fit. There is no valuable sustenance in crack or cocaine, and is used mainly as a recreational drug by many. This, in some ways, leaves the inner cities and crime and moves to the wealthier middle and upper middle classes who use the cocaine and not the crack version for recreation. This is the society of Jay McInerney's seminal 1980s fictional tale of New York 20-something lives, "Bright Lights, Big City."

Cocaine users have and have had their "scene" for quite some time, and for the, the currency is still money, rather than the drug itself. That is how recreational cocaine users differ from the crime-influenced hunger satisfier described in the proletariat hunger killer definition. There is not the sense of urgent necessity outside of the biological influence of the drug itself, of course.

In other words, recreational cocaine users may indeed get addicted and the drug may indeed replace their hunger, but it is from the biological nature of the drug. In the proletariat hunger killers model, the users get addicted to the lifestyle bore than the biological and chemical reactions implicit in taking cocaine or crack for recreational uses and in social settings.

In the proletariat hunger killers model, the drugs physically replace food. Take the rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard, for instance. Having grown up in the projects in Staten Island, he was very exposed to crack use, both as a sustenance drug and as a currency. However, after reaching financial and career success, one would assume that - if he continued to use cocaine or crack - would move towards the genussmittels model instead, since he was successfully removed himself from crime-ridden streets.

But we find that even as a 35-year-old millionaire, Ol' Dirty Bastard overdosed and died with crack in his system, while he was at work in the studio. This is clear proof that the genussmittels model does not necessary apply: Those who are exposed to crack or cocaine in the proletariat hunger killers form never are able to truly abandon that path. They treat the drugs as food: Note that the rapper went to work while on the drugs, as one would go to work after eating breakfast.

That is why the proletariat hunger killers model is more powerful, and perhaps more persuasive and dangerous: The drugs effectively replace food, making other sustenance factors moot and rendering other interests unimportant. The drug is the only goal, and the drug is the only currency. It is all-consuming. All this, of course, follows the biological and chemical harm that the drugs do, of course.