Browse Items (15 total)

On 5 September 1989, President Bush presented the nation with a bag of crack cocaine. He informed everyone that crack cocaine was one of the major issues plaguing the country. President Bush stated that the drugs were bought in a park across the…

This graph depicts the rise of homicide that occurred in the late 1980s. Homicides increased from 225 to 369 in the span of one year; this is a rise of approximately 64 percent.

Lynda Waters is a crack addict. She prioritized crack above all else in her life, including her children. She has missed most of their lives, and does not even know her youngest daughter, as she has spent many years in jail. This interview with Lynda…

Lamont Carey grew up on the streets in Washington DC. In this mp3, he describes how he learned to deal drugs before he really had aspirations to be a drug dealer.

Ruben Castenada was a reporter for the Washington Post who covered crime in Washington DC. He was also addicted to crack. He describes what it was like to live this double life in this interview with WAMU.

This newspaper article describes a group of men whose addiction to crack cocaine brought them to homelessness and poverty. And yet the direction of their conversation seems to always be crack cocaine. They are aware how they hurting themselves, but…

This photograph depicts Hanover Place, a place that was a notorious drug market in Washington DC in the 1980s.

This chart was used using data about crime in DC from 1979 to 1989. It shows how crime steadily increased, especially from 1985 to 1989.

This map depicts a number of things. It shows Hanover Place, where Rayful Edmonds lived and started dealing crack, the area where activist Leroy Thorpe began uniting his neighborhood against the drug dealers. it also depicts hot spots for drug sales,…

Drugs were so common place in Washington DC that there were many parts of the city where drugs were sold in the open air with out fear of the law or the police. People would line up to buy crack and often cause traffic jams. Drugs were such a problem…