« Stuff You Should Know

How Crack Works

2013-09-24 | 🔗

Back in the mid-1980s a new and extremely potent drug hit the scene: crack cocaine. In short order, America was in the grip of both a sweeping addiction and a state of hysteria over use of the drug and the social consequences of crack, like crack babies. Now, 30 years on SYSK takes a look back at the receding wave of the crack epidemic and its lasting legacy on America.

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This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
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Here she went into the world through the weird. Maybe just you know what's Zack attack from saved by the Bell We all know it saved by the valleys now another. At a note that shows, but he never had a disaster that it's just that being that catch. If that is what will never mind if I crack was whack, but this academic is truly Y know I disagree, I was gonna say now: it's not right kiss, that's actually pretty good show, but ok you crack is whack. Witness were like imminent up in here were what we're like Eminem up in here, the Agatha referred or about that now
Global now I'm the same people that their confused about why we sounds stilted and square her. He just got listen to help us that explains everything. People like that, when surprisingly yeah its current man, we get a good, for me, a facebook, personal graffiti artists, oh yeah, yeah, good stuff, nice and keep members tagged, but it was like really nice but gives complementing us who use the same. Hey these. Ok, I'm a graffiti artisan here's, my my work, nice and I was very impressed and he is not on crack now.
Because he's not whacker exactly so check I have a little were a little into a great stir should bear with me in the year was nineteen eighty five k I was fourteen: where does it is one year p b, t yeah very early on cocaine, which is a drug development sweeping the nation for about ten years by then there was a two hundred and fifty. There's a gram as that's thanks to the demand and the available income of its well heeled yuppie users year willingness
then that kind of money on her very much it inexpensive, white, upwardly mobile persons, drug use, cocaine launcher Wall Street here, and there were at the time, articles that kind of said fucking. Are we not bad addictive? We shouldn't worry too much about the early is not a very big deal. It was mostly like, I said, a wager that senior nineteen five a new drug hit the scene is cheap. Five to ten bucks, a pop gave you a very quick, very intense, high, yeah short lived and swept through lower income, african american areas of the United States and all of a sudden, we had a problem, an epidemic. Yes, he does. It was cocaine in a different form
The country went crazy for it, and not only was it cocaine in a different form, it was cocaine being used by a different demographic that, as we'll see America has always been threatened by and always made legislation to dampen drug you some on.
It's pretty interesting when you dig into the stuff and so in nineteen, eighty five when people started to get worried, Nancy Reagan became concerned and when Nancy Reagan became concerned, as is usual, she started to lie and we will we will get into what allegedly might have happened and why crack might have been introduced in this country to some people think it was the? U S, government straight up, CIA. Yet that's a really good points. Oil you're, referring to is Jerry WEBS dark lines. Article right, yeah series of articles in a book from nineteen. Eighty six, I believe, carry what was an investigative journalist for the San Jose Mercury NEWS yet and they had a front page story where he, basically
without the connection between the CIA and the crackers epidemic that started in, I think, nineteen. Eighty four in LOS Angeles, yeah, south Central there's, a dude name, Freeway Ricky Rossi, still round. I think I'll yeah and he was the largest cocaine distributor african american Cocaine distributor by his big time and all of a sudden, I don't know where he had a new product called crack, and it became very popular very quickly here and Jerry wherever nineteen o six trace. The origin of this epidemic back to through Ricky Ross fact, hasten nicaraguan freedom, fighting guerrillas. There were backed and trained, and possibly commanded by the CIA or get into this.
We just got a diversion of this type. Do yeah. Do you want to be a minor? Ok, here's the deal in Nicaragua, central american country. Eighteen thirties, my name and starts YO. Some Moser took power and then forty years later in eighteen, seventy nine people revolted overthrew him and they were called the sandinistas. Yes, sir, you know the whole country sandinistas. Nicaragua that raged in the seventies and eighties. When we're talking about yes in the sand This is where a communist and that didn't I so well with the: U S who it long cherished Nicaragua for their farmland and like to have a toe in their pond, so to speak,
oh yeah and so communism, their didn't fly, and so they said you know what I think. Maybe we should find the contrast, maybe give them a little better financial assistance. You every country's weren't, just one group. They were like an umbrella term for any democratic or in Anti Communist group was trained. It Para militarily overthrow, socialists leadership in Nicaragua. That's right, so we decided to help fund their civil war in the problem. So there were not a dough like that. We could say my careless use this money to do this because it was a secret war. There is no congressional approval, is a proxy war The Soviet Union at the time, so some allege this is when the ragged administration and CIA got together to literally introduce cocaine dealers and cocaine to South central and crack cocaine.
To spread throughout the ghettos, to raise money and use that money to fund the contrast. So here's the thing like that was never proven Jerry web. Never ever said he did not. He didn't say that government directly introduced on purpose or with The aim of creating an epidemic in the ghetto he found connections between the CIA and Drug lords rights Typically Ricky Raw, I'm one end and then the CIA backed impossibly commanded. The nicaraguan democratic force. Yes, the contract for here is so there their business. Their group was funded entirely from cookin sales in trafficking in it all went to this guy,
he Ross and there's no way that the sea I didn't know about this year, and there were at the time we get back to having a second I'm in the eightys there was The whole iron contracting broke out. There was the carry committee. You did some investigating. The carry committee report from John Kerry obviously found that quote the Contra drug links included payments to drug traffickers by the? U S, state department of funds authorize by the Congress for humanitarian assistance to the countries and then later on those in internal CIA investigation in the nineties where they found that there is no evidence that this I actually brought drugs into the United States. However, in these these roquat, however the country era. The CIA worked with a variety of people to support the culture programme, and let me be Frank there
instances where the CIA did not then expeditious or consistent fashion cut off relationships with individuals supporting the Contra programme were alleged to have engaged in drug trafficking activity, so basically the internal investigations. Well, there might have been to people we were dealing with. It would do in Essen, as it turns out we didn't really do much about it right. So, As far as you can go, without hyperbole still pretty shocking, sir, the CIA backed trained impossibly commanded, at least one guerrilla group, the Nicaraguan credit force and the Nicaraguan Democratic Force, the FDA and sold cocaine to Freeway Ricky Ross Freeway Ricky, Russia's, where the crack of a dynamic originated in suggested finish up with.
Though I'm after he wrote this dark alliance series. He was shot the by mainstream ass in the United States, sadly, all three major newspapers. In our times in our times- and I guess was the Washington Post House came out- and they would not only shown Veinlike tried to discredit him. Oh yeah, they wrote because they put seventeen reporters into thousand words to a three rebuttal of dark alliance. That was the earth away times. Rather than pick up the story, they traded the demolish it and a web New York Times suggested he was a reckless reporter prone to getting his facts wrong. He argued and want to pull it at this planning for supper And the the renewed, definitive for a little while and then backed off and apologize. He ended quitting and committed a very weird sewage
in which he shot himself in the head twice yeah obviously, if you get on the internet, there are tons of outlets did say, while obviously beside it was a murder show but that other other people have said now. It does look kinky by the first shot, wasn't fatal and he was able to do it twice. In a giant. Concludes that some raw nerve right there, but he claimed that there were people like you know, he's up what he thought were: CIA people like climbing up his fire escape and stuff the previous days, and who knows all I'm saying is they're making a movie about it with Jeremy render the summer I was there, I grow yes, good, I'm glad here I ran across him when I wrote an article on America's army, german, no yeah, road and experts say America's armies, the sir. It's a video game and its basically like
raining game for the army, where you can play this free game, but you sign up to become acted if you're any good added the army contacts you and he did. This is like a recruiting tore through video games that the army categorically denied. That's what it was the first, obviously what it was Gary Debt Gary web. When is less expositions on them, and you know what we should mention that today, all three of those major news outlets. All say boy: we can. I got that one wrong yeah shouldn't have done had again anywhere vision of driven Gary web to his possible suicide yeah, so so Gary, what did all this investigation jealously were? Can connect the dots pretty well, but there still is man in question tantalizing question who invented crack came out of nowhere and so too
answer that which we can't we have to look at. How crack is maiden and look at how crackers If you go back a lot further than the ninety navies, you have to go back to the eighteen eighties and actually a little further before then, when cocaine first was introduced to the United States after it was some isolated, the alkaloid was isolated from the Coca play, in the mid nineteenth century and that's what was isolated in by mean for centuries. People in South America were wise to the fact that if you do on this plant, it'll give you some go juice working, more empty still to hack out of the air. So it was. There was no secret to the south american spurt. Like you said it was the mid eighteen. Eighty one is actually isolated. And became a narcotic and abuse narcotic drugs right, but first you can buy it all over the place.
You could get it through catalogues you can like doctors can prescribe Sigmund. Freud was in Arden prescriber of it and it was a very popular drug. Founded, tonics took color checked for real. The summit in cocaine was by everybody loved it her, oh, I appear until well, not until they still loved it and still today imagines circles, but the nineteen fourteen it was made illegal with the Harrison Narcotics Tax, And right, which do you remember, I said earlier that, like everything like this, crack has a real history of it shows the history of racism in regards to drug laws area, so the Harrison Narcotic ACT outlawed opiates and cocaine for the first time in the United States and
based on concerns like Chinamen were luring white women. There were two there to their dens of iniquity in open in Chinatown through opium, and southern blacks were sniffing cocaine. And it gave them superhuman strength and they were raping white women as a result. So that's what the farthest two things are passed and we have federal legislation for one thousand, nine hundred and fourteen as a result of those kind of fears. You can, if you keep them back your mind, unimpaired tents into the drug policy that comes out later on from Dracula it the it's been going on since then, and it continues to today. I see a pattern emerges, a pattern. Emergency, so cocaine is cooking powder. Is you have to actually manufactured it? You don't find a cocoa plant. Unlike chicken potter falls out, they forget tinkling found it is
by dissolving the pace, the cocoa paste in a mixture of hydrochloric, acid and water, and yet some potassium salt separate out the badge maybe a little ammonia and then the powder is separated out and you ve got cooking, pouty, cooking and from you can sniff it. You can add a little water to inject it or you can make something called free base. Yeah, never quite understood what rebates was. I thought I was a thought free. Basing was a thing. It is yeah but free basis, also its announcement of her bright. Ok, so you know, maybe I do you re base free base. You see I'm doing it you ve the noun focus so do stuff doesnt work
I don't know what everybody so excited about. So with free base, you take cocaine and you add something highly flammable, say ether and you after you dissolve the the cocaine in ammonia. Yet either to it they smoke it. They smoking, something that has like a highly flammable solution, involving until it to richer by yes in nineteen eighty, when he was filming, busted LISA, he caught himself on fire Khazars smoking free vase. He was smoking free base in drinking one. Fifty one proof rum here, one night and think it is doing in his grudge too, with soldiers on ventilating. He caught fire yeah, but you know there's also reports that he set himself on farm purpose, really that he poured this.
All over his head and lent a match how you I'll cook herself emulation. I think I may be the right story now. I just saw documentary on him and I think that's what they say. I'm so glad you described to be met. I guess Germany emails. You are very welcome, was the long stories that he free based in, I think, even came out later and said. Like yeah, I was free basing, but I also purpose except myself on fire getting the ravages of a free. Basing bench gets. You look so free basing it was a thing, at least as early as nineteen eighty, but it was. It was difficult to do multi, step process any needed, something like ether. Either
Now the easiest thing to get your hands on her and dangerous. Obviously sure, but there was a way to smoke, cocaine and free basis. The way to do it, but that never really got a big foothold in any demographic in the country of this kind of thing that some people like richer prior did right lookin for a more intense. I guess, then, all of a sudden mysteriously out of nowhere there is crack cocaine. Yeah crack is also manufactured. Doesn't require something like either or anything, flammable. No, you dissolvent mixture, water and either baking soda sorry carbonate
or ammonia and you boil it up, separated out into the solid cool it down and then break it up and you ve got your little white fish or tan crack rocks and if you bite on the street supposedly they range in size from point one point: five grams yeah and they contain the d, a says between seventy five and ninety percent pure cocaine. So it's quite a rush for you sure in because it so easy to make crack from cocaine like nobody imports cracked across the border into the EU. The top coat good comes in the? U S right and then Wesley Snipes, converted into crack in a factory operated in Rome by naked people cause he didn't trust him. What was that needs laxity awe and I was like played
yeah remounted realler about age exit. It was great moment there was in the college crack because it makes a crackling sounded the baking soda when you put the fire on it in speaking, put the fire on it. That's how you do it. You have a little, I mean there's different kinds of pipes, but the most often crack pipe, you will see- is the little street shooter. Little glass tube yet find a mamma dont walks in my neighborhood dearly How would I crack is still around us now I get one anywhere else. He thought of it together from all control its length. So you you know you have a crack in one end and then a filter of some kind like us, the award of than in the other. You heed it up with your lighter under like on the outside of the glass to or you can get. I guess hit it with the flame, but I think if you slide it under the glass tube edition, like the way to do it, any smoke it and pretty
immediately you're going to feel the effects. It's it's an immediate rush that lasts only about ten or fifteen minutes, and that something that I didn't used to now. I learned at a few years ago, but I had no idea. I thought a crack high was like you know a couple hours or something, I think, is one of the shortest eyes on the market, which is, I guess, why so addictive and dangerous right. Rampant, because you can't down in you like I'd like to do that again. Exactly! Can every fifteen minutes it's a short high, but is also an extremely intense high to yet so yeah the is the addictive Nasser potential for addictive Missis Reed. Hi yeah, and so I know this article summarised very nicely for you exactly how it reacts with the brain and so much go hinders laid on people. It has the dopamine as we know yet, dopamine. It's like you're, a pleasure centres. It's the the basis of the rewards,
system that we have, which is how we learned to eat, in how we learn that have sex to reproduce liquid. We feel good when we do certain things we want to do it again and the basis of that is dopamine Break So in the brain. The way it functions normally is near I will release dopamine in adult travel to a neighbouring neuron, causing it to fire and release a pleasurable sensation. Yes, and then that dopamine molecule Shovels back to the original neurons, the transporter and his reabsorbed, and I said One thing that goes back home in its good right. There's a certain finite amount of pleasure humans are designed to experience. Naturally, your Cosette, when we say reabsorbed, we say it was said that a lot don't think people understand. That means. Basically, it turns that off again right doesn't thing in its dont yeah it
and do a thing and do a thing into a thing and do a thing it does this thing once it goes back to the original neuron, exactly sound the couch in its owner on waiting to be released. Again, let me know when you have sex again or eat something rates of it. So with with cracker other drugs that are targeted the dopamine system. They interrupt the process crack specifically in her up the process of re uptake array, absorption yeah so year. The year smoke crack right and it triggers this dopamine release. Blood were yes here, but crack attaches to the transporter in which keeps the the dopamine from being. Reabsorbed, which means it is floating around in the snapped the area between two neuron, you like him- that one neuron again and again and again
Does it all throughout the brain all throughout the eventual take mental area, and you have this long Well, not long, but you have this very intense, pleasurable sensation. Rights are basically the real take. They d shut that down to your other. In the jungle he's a sledge rolling around. Yes, your brains, a big pleasure centre, and then, after I guess, five to fifteen minutes like the crackers. Often the dopamine is taken up once more and the highs over a new leaf going. I want to do that again, I guess we should talk about some of the effects of crack use, obviously just like with Cocaine any kind of stimulant like that are amphetamine, you're gonna, be a risk for heart attack, yeah, sometimes on the spot, and because you smoke it,
you like it- has real real potential for problems with the respiratory system in your cardiopulmonary system in general, yet a stroke is also a risk. It's gonna make it. Energize at first. You might. Although your senses, maybe heightened temporarily gonna shoot through the roof? Your peoples are gonna dilate, your temperatures can arise, you're gonna be pretty anxious or irritable. As you start to come down, and then we could be really aggressive and he could be more pro start a fight with a cup like you have superhuman strength, racism, crazy stuff to a passer. By on the sidewalk issue, any material can the corners of her mouth that's true If you have it with alcohol, that's the combination, because that produces a chemical called cook ethylene
yeah we delivered up like this. Is a thing like toxic is I'll get out, were it's the crack or cocaine and alcohol produce a third drug? Basically, a hybrid drug that's more than the sum of its parts and arm it creates a longer lasting, intense or high from crack, but it's also really toxic to deliver really bad for you. Yet is it alcohol itself wasn't yeah? It's like you have to do anything to it erected to get this thing like you. Just drink a cracked right in your body, does the rest. Your metabolism breaks the stuff down and creates this cook ethylene? and like alcohol and cocaine so, as we said, its super addictive and, of course, all this stuff. Whenever you hear about drugs being addictive, it's all dependent on the person. Of course, one person might
a crack and never want to do it again. One person might be hooked immediately. Yeah. It all depends on your your susceptibility to addiction, which varies greatly sure I remember learning when I was a kid that were you smoke crack once in your addictive for life, yeah, her the rat heroin too, near the butt there is a very high potential for abuse with crack because you're its long, why its short short term short high, but an intensive yeah and what we don't want to be like a crack is not addictive, but we don't want to spread the emitted informational, get once you hook for Leah, which was really big in the eightys and the inner Nancy Reagan. Why? drug era like a lot of misinformation was put other just scare people here. Hello stuff. You should know listeners. Do you want a new year's resolution? That's easy to keep yes results
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easy to keep. It will help you protect what you ve worked so hard for get lifelike for up to twenty five percent off your first year, gonna lifelike, dotcom, slash stuff! That's why flocked outcomes less stuff for up to twenty five percent off, so I'm talkin about it being addictive its addictive and because of the effect that it has an dopamine yeah. But it's also deleted. You see your health because the effect that it has on your dopamine reward system while yeah, because and I know we ve- covered this and other drugs. If you do enough drugs like this, It requires your brain to the point where it just isn't working the same any longer union urgently needed. Your brain has like something some sort of sensor in there that, like ok, there's wait, you must stop a mean going on. This person should not be feeling this much pleasure. So I'm going to stop seeing as much dopamine naturally need I'm gonna destroy the dope a minute's floating around in this Nazism, gonna reduce the level
so that when you now, when you stop smoking crack, though the let down is way worse yeah because you don't have as much natural dopamine as you did before, started, smoking crack and so you're crazy, Your desire for crack to get back up is much more intense, much higher yeah the thing with crack, which is a little weird, many times smoke more and more of it because of what you are talking about, because you need to get the high, but sometimes it'll actually make you more sensitive to it, and you will get super high of crack even as an attic super quick and you could super die instantly, which I'm not sure if they ve reconciled how it can do both of those things depending on who you are I think the same thing it's like you know some people get addicted to it immediately and other people take longer.
Albert Einstein, but how to fix you. But I guess it's the same with alcohol is some hard core alcoholics take a long time to get drunk in some get drunk like really quickly right, yeah so gets a single. I guess it Polly have to do with metabolism cases. Fabulous amount. I guess so. Once you when you are fully addicted. If you stop smoking crank, which, by the way, I think I speak for Chuck you and I say we highly recommended if he is another crack to stop smoking crack yet in have started yet then just keep that up. Yes, do not start smoking crack, no reason to If you have our, if its, if you listen to this package after you became addicted to crack, if you withdraw from crack you're going to experience a pretty big, come down in general year, severe depression, anxiety
cravings, you gonna, be not fond of you around here. Can we really irritable and anxious inexhausted yet like agitated all at the same time? Yet the Good NEWS is that your brain will eventually restructure itself too turn it dopamine levels back to normal or somewhere near normal yeah. So you won't be depressed or withdrawn, or anxious. Sir irritated irritable for the rest of your life, It's just why you're undergoing withdrawals? That's what it's gonna be like and it won't be pretty. It won't be brave.
And there's no medication designed specifically to crack and most therapies, are pretty standard. Rehab therapy, like cognitive behavioral therapy, which teaches you how to arm, had a basically go through life, resisting the temptation of smoking crack bright. How did dissociate maybe figures like places you go, get definite lifestyle yeah to decouple Europe mentality from being addicted. The standard rehab everyman pretty much. We cover that like extensively and addiction, there's another type of treatment that I hadn't heard of called contingency management. Have you heard of that now? I had naturally, but apparently fairly popular for crack treatment for what well, basically it some. You are rewarded for not smoking crack, which
sure goes over really well with Republicans where's my reward, if exactly but back ever oil yet been addicted yet to be adapted so the dear given my voucher, something you make it like. Thirty days you get a free movie ticket or something like your given stuff too incentivize, yeah incentives and not doing crack and I'm sure stuff that is healthy. Give free distracts you from thinking about crack that kind of thing, I haven't heard of that Bulgaria. This article gives one a movie ticket for you. Now you don't get today by not spoken crackers movie ticket right always like the street terms. We should cover the earthquake, because ninety percent of St Helens, I think, of how it is made up by the media yeah. You know I always feel like they probably discoloured cracker rock, or they call it Basa or french fries or real tops organs.
Oh glow, that's like gum wasn't drugging strangers with candy was hit closure like ran aground in the glow, probably as great rocks and that's my favorite hotcakes CDS is that candy sugar, jelly veins, I guess they can and makes a jelly beans are french fries makes sense, then further here, because I mean doesn't look like little pieces of french fries yeah it a bit more. It makes more sense than Bartha. Well that's or real tops. Here's one there's no way that anyone in the history of humanity is ever called crack. This electric coup laid yeah. They got there drug they're. Here that the acid sir, the famous book, the court, is that I think there's a newspaper writers, you ve never been street the kids today or on the electric coolly,
So one thing that we talked about about crack is the weird sentencing laws dating back to nineteen fourteen and up until two thousand and ten. When we passed the fair sentencing act, if you're caught with one gram of crack cocaine, you would get as much time as someone caught with one hundred grams of cocaine powder. Yes, in, let's go back over this in nineteen eighty five, the grim of cocoa and powdered cocaine cost a hundred dollars a hundred fifty dollars, and it was extraordinarily favoured, predominantly by white people. Yet crack comes long. Nineteen, eighty five five to ten bucks, cheap, intense high and it becomes favoured by african american states.
Legally speaking yet so some my allege that the? U S government actually had a hand in introducing crack to the ghettos and then made stiffer sentencing once people are addicted to crack. To put, and I'm not saying crack users are like awesome, many people should do this, but it's a non violent crime and they were being put in prison for the maritime as white counterparts who may be raped and murdered people a hundred to one ratio when you call with a hundred times the powdered cocaine to get the same sentence as somebody caught with a hundred of them. Of crack. That's right not like that anymore. There ought well hello. There is one other thing to their mandatory minimum sentences that were again early harshness, getting caught fight with a little bit a crack on you any amount of crack. I believe you got five years automatically here. Five years thousand, and it's very minimum for possession five years in prison for nothing else. Like you,
be walking down the street and get caught with track, and we have committed another crime in your entire life here and you would get five years in prison for that, and now is from the anti drug abuse active nineteen. Eighty six, which screams Nancy Reagan here it was. There was a big deal if the waterline until two thousand and ten and now. Finally, Congress pass the affair sentencing act which reverted the ratio to wander eighteen, instead of one two hundred my weight get rid of that mandatory minimum and now attorney General Eric holders actually trying to get some rhetoric poverty and these sentences and trying to they are actually releasing some people from prison. Armor, we talk. Then the presidential Pardon episode lawyer. That was something that a lot of people are calling for. His blanket pardoned nonviolent crack users who had been busted under this
Yeah he's mandatory minimum. This idea rehab somebody, but even still there's still a few in the ratio between cracking cocaine, probably arrest, no, not noticed that the the senses- I guess there is still an eighteen one ratio. It used to be a hundred one while you're at it still. Eighteen o one and people like why not just I wonder why it's both its cocaine and it's ok, exactly what's the problem here, so yeah there's been a long history of against racism, put plain and simple: there is really no other way to put it yeah racism among drug laws, and since they introduced retroactivity releases, theyve reduce seventy three hundred sentences for ever twenty nine months per inmate and saved american taxpayers,
five hundred and thirty million dollars in the process of other people will say: you're latin drug offenders out on the streets. Why are we doing this and am so? There are two sides, obviously opinion my said that story, be remiss if we didn't point out that people are upset about it in some circles. Oh sure, psych hearted, it's a great idea categorically yeah, I'm the others problems with it for sure to talk about tat baby, yeah there's another thing that came out of the eighties was the so called crack baby lay. There was a huge part of his crack epidemic. Wasn't just addiction. It was babies being born addicted to crack and thanks to a paper from nineteen, eighty five by gaining doctor, I reach has not the crack baby. Fear,
started sweeping the nation. I mean huge man, there's a New York Times, video that you can go watch like ten minutes long I'll, wretched reports is ours yes, really good and basically can abroad remember now, you know back in the eighties Peter meetings on the nightly news saying that you know babies are been. It's not Peter Jennings Courses, whoever sort nervous Jennings Dan. Rather, it was down, broke up people time, Newsweek, debates within these babies are being born, addicted to drugs, ill, ultimately, cos cracked babies focusing on states, five billion dollars, The other thing I was gonna, be a lost generation, and yet a nation of kids. Who are you, can't rehab they're, going to be the babies are aloof. They shake they avoid. I contact. They avoid eye contact with their own mothers, which proves that they're going to be anti social deviants when they grow up does not like
we're not rewriting history man. It was like hard core stuff that there were saying it was gonna, be they will. One quite was they will not be able to hold to form to hold a job. Meaningful relationship right, so they were expected Dick really overwhelm the education system, maybe name it haven't iq. Fifty driver quote completely overwhelmed social services. So basically there is this. Whole generation of kids are expected to be totally mess that because their mothers had spoke crackle, they were pregnant, and so women were having their kids taken away from them. Some women were arrested and the guy they die. To who wrote the original paper doctor I reach has now they started a very quickly back off a very urgent statement here, which is still today, like he admits: leg
He was pretty mouthy and not very savvy. Pretty media naive. I guess you get richer and he said he would give these long, winded statements and then the press. We just pick out, like the juices part in like this guy single handedly, created the crack baby, myth because it never pay now in any way, shape or form and what they were saying was like the twitchy babies that yours hang on tv when they're talking about the these symptoms of being a crack baby that premature babies like you, take any premature baby, whose premature for any real yeah and they're going to display these symptoms that are supposedly associated with crack babies yeah they did that, the? U S, government sponsored a twenty five year study of crack babies nodded to your study or five years that in twenty five years they follow. These These up into adulthood right is now over the funding ran out and they found that by age for the average I q of cocaine exposed children
was seventy nine average IQ fanatics was children's eighty one one came to readiness at six about twenty five percent in each group. Bored at an abnormal range. Basically, all of the findings said it's the same as these other kids, but here's, feel they weren't. Due in the study against crack baby babies in white, suburban kids, they were doing against alike model, which was other poor. Black kids basically We're not crack babies and they said they are all below average. So the deal is: is its poverty right? It's not crack. Cocaine there's one and the same is not a man, cracked, babies and there. Scoring lower because of poverty and in basically bad post, natal care through Adele
right, like you, you might not have any problems physiologically or not. Is none cognitive Lee from being exposed to crack in the womb, but if your mom still smoking crack after your born, you probably not going to get the best care from your parents as possible and they did find in that same study that children that were being raised in, like a supporting encouraging house even in poverty, stricken condition that tended to excel right. So it is pop. It was poverty they found out and postnatal care, like you said I being born premature for that. Yes, but the crack baby thing never happened. It was another example of hysterics so right about now, I want to say if, if it sounds like check- and I are being cavalier
in cavalier with the idea of crack we're not we're not being carefully with crack or addiction. That's nothing to take lightly right, but I think what created a bit over frenetic necessary passion, maybe in this way there is this. This idea that we are able to look back now. Thirty yours on and say well like Amerika, was genuinely hysterical and that's it be amazed by and a little disconcerted with two yeah. Of course you should not take cocaine or smoke crack when you're pregnant. No doctor on earth is gonna sit the good thing, but the crack baby was a myth and the one Emory better those in the New York Times researcher in your times. Video came out and said: you know what alcohol as much more physical damage,
and is much more widespread as an and abused drug during pregnancy than crack or cocaine ever, is but they're not lacking Ladys up you're pregnant for drinking and the reason they were doing it back then, is because they were poor black women right. We should say, though, the crack epidemic also, while the sentences were stiffer the amount you got caught with was a hundred times smaller. To give the same the same, rapid getting caught with Para cocaine. Yeah there was something that came out of this track epidemic. That was a real threat, and that was the eyes of the modern inner city gang here, at least as far as we know it like crimson blood in folks and all those guys. They they came out of this
They were able to buy the guns that they bought in fight, deter force. If that they fought because they had this incredibly addictive drug cell and control pretty easily in there. And all of a sudden there so, came from who knows you can all you can't the big problem with the crack epidemic that you can trace directly back? It is the rise of the modern gang jogging, so, in summary, crack lack yeah, crack babies, myth crack sentencing laws, whack whack Gary web whacked, whack
enough Perfect Wilson, Sir, I said something perfectly. I am going to tell you to go ahead and research crack more on our website. Has the force that camp one of our websites these days, you can type crack in the search bar and bring up this article answers. I said Sir It's time for a message no These resolutions are very, very difficult to keep get more exercise save more money. What about this? We have a resolution that you can really work with stop wasting time going to the post office that right stamps dot com instead because they bring all the services of the. U S: postal service right to your computer with Europe. Business, sinning invoices or packages, or an online seller shipping out products stamps that can handle it all with ease yet and get this with Sampson com. You get five cents off. Every first call
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said stolen car and were pursued by the cops. I'm not sure what causes to pursue high speeds, but they did. The chase resulted kids t boning my car. I stopped at a red light. The kids try to take an incredibly short term, Essentially you turn onto another road and they're gone way too fast. The chase escalated to and on foot chase and. Actually did, and then arrests ended up having to be cut out of the car with the jaws of life. We suffered miner had injuries, despite my carving total as a result, the incident I began having anxiety and PTSD symptoms that works. By police errands innocent stress, see treatment similar to some of what you discussed in the PTSD episode. I was well now. I didn't take too long with their feet.
Everything I want to share the downside of these cases and I think that its it required I'd be chase result could have been much much worse. I really wish that police would stop, think they pursued for minor crimes and would get find even or have some sort of penalty for causing accidents by saying that as Rebecca thanks Rebecca procedure sharing that are, they happen to pledge it even better If you want to share a personal experience from something that we have talked about in this episode or another one, you can I tweet to us as why escape podcast Facebook that complex studies now stuff, I guess a discovery. I can check out our website.
Its stuff. You should know that for more openness and thousands of other topics that how stuff works, dot com like a good night, state farmers there with eighteen thousand agents across the country who are ready to help you. Twenty four seven, three sixty five, that's getting to a better state. How are you feeling today, right now. How are you feeling about the world living? He went away World better, do you know how I'm not sure I do but you know who did Mr Rogers I'm Colonel Wallis hosted finding Fred Pack has about Fred Rogers Norton million. Here all ten episodes defining Fred Iheart Radio broadcasts more wherever you listen
Transcript generated on 2020-01-17.