1st Edition

New Drugs on the Street Changing Inner City Patterns of Illicit Consumption

By Merrill Singer Copyright 2006
    152 Pages
    by Routledge

    152 Pages
    by Routledge

    Learn the public health implications of shifting drug-related risks among the inner city poor

    Inner city drug use behavior shifts and changes, leaving past drug treatment programs, drug prevention efforts, health care provisions for drug users, and social service practice unprepared to effectively respond. New Drugs on the Street: Changing Inner City Patterns of Illicit Consumption tackles this problem by presenting the latest ethnographic and epidemiological studies of emerging and changing drug use behaviors in the inner city. This one-of-a-kind resource provides the latest research to help readers reconceptualize ways to think about today’s drug use to more effectively address the growing problem.

    Unless public health and social service professionals keep in step with the shifting patterns of drug behaviors, drug use epidemics will inevitably unfold. New Drugs on the Street reveals the latest drug use practices of the poor in the inner city, with a concentration on the research in African-American and Latino populations. Each chapter gives an in-depth look at the use of various psychotropic drugs most recently gaining popularity, along with the surprising reemergence of PCP. The rampant use of ecstasy in the rave scene is explored, along with the effects of its heavy use, its after-effects, the likelihood of poly-drug mixing, and dangerous sex risk behaviors. Urban youth drug networking is examined in detail. The alarming use of embalming fluid mixtures is discussed, along with the disturbing public health implications of its use. The illicit use of narcotics analgesics (NA) like Vicodin and other pain killers is also explored, including the unclear association between NA use and Hepatitis C. A final chapter presents the latest information on Haitian youth and young adults in Miami, Florida, with ethnographic background to illustrate the reasons for drug use in this and other ethnic minorities. This valuable source is extensively referenced and includes several helpful tables to clarify research data.

    New Drugs on the Street examines:

    • ecstasy
    • diverted pharmaceutical painkillers
    • PCP
    • embalming fluid
    • narcotics analgesics (NA)
    • drug use dynamics
    • the changing street drug scene
    • new drug combinations
    • new drug-involved populations

    New Drugs on the Street reveals the nature and direction of the latest drug use and is essential reading for health professionals in the health social sciences, public health, nursing, and substance abuse fields that deal with low income, ethnic minority, and inner city populations.

    • New Drugs on the Street: An Introduction (Merrill Singer)
    • “Rollin’ on E”: A Qualitative Analysis of Ecstasy Use Among Inner City Adolescents and Young Adults (Julie M. Eiserman, Sarah Diamond, and Jean J. Schensul)
    • The Diffusion of Ecstasy Through Urban Youth Networks (Jean J. Schensul, Sarah Diamond, William Disch, Rey Bermudez, and Julie Eiserman)
    • When the Drug of Choice Is a Drug of Confusion: Embalming Fluid Use in Inner City Hartford, CT (Merrill Singer, Greg Mirhej, Susan Shaw, Hassan Saleheen, Jim Vivian, Erica Hastings, Lucy Rohena, DeShawn Jennings, Juhem Navarro, Claudia Santelices, Alan H. B. Wu, Andrew Smith, and Alberto Perez)
    • Under the Counter: The Diffusion of Narcotic Analgesics to the Inner City Street (James Vivian, Hassan Saleheen, Merrill Singer, Juhem Navarro, and Greg Mirhej)
    • Response to Trauma in Haitian Youth at Risk (Richard Douyon, Louis Herns Marcelin, Michèle Jean-Gilles, and J. Bryan Page)
    • Index
    • Reference Notes Included

    Biography

    Merrill Singer