Skip to main content

Cocaine in Context: Findings from a South London Inner-City Drug Survey

  • Chapter
Cocaine and Crack

Abstract

This chapter is based on a survey of drug users known to a variety of different agencies in the south London borough of Lewisham. This is an area of London which has gained much notoriety through reports in the local and national press about certain housing estates said to be dealing centres for the crack—cocaine trade. Indeed, as a result of a sensational feature article in The Sunday Times (15 January 1989) entitled ‘Hooked on Crack’, the Milton Court estate in the Deptford area of north Lewisham was dubbed ‘Crack City’. It had been further implied — not only by media coverage, but also by a certain amount of local rumour and gossip — that the drug problem in Lewisham was a black problem

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (1988) AIDS and Drug Misuse, Part I (London: HMSO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (1989) AIDS and Drug Misuse, Part II (London: HMSO).

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Awiah, S. Butt and N. Dorn (1990) “‘The Last Place I Would Go”: Black People and Drug Services in Britain’, Druglink, Vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 14–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Awiah, (1992) Race, Gender and Drug Services, (London: Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence).

    Google Scholar 

  • H. Blagg, G. Pearson, A. Sampson, D. Smith and P. Stubbs (1988) ‘Inter-Agency Cooperation: Rhetoric and Reality’, in T. Hope and M. Shaw (eds), Communities and Crime Reduction (London: HMSO).

    Google Scholar 

  • P. Bourgois (1989) ‘Crack in Spanish Harlem: Culture and Economy in the Inner City’, Anthropology Today, Vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 6–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A. Burr (1987) ‘Chasing the Dragon: Heroin Misuse, Delinquency and Crime in the Context of South London Culture’, British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 333–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Burr (1989) ‘An Inner-City Community Response to Heroin Use’, in S. MacGregor (ed.), Drugs and British Society (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • A. L. M. Carvell and G. J. Hart (1990) ‘Risk Behaviours for HIV Infection among Drug Users in Prison’, British Medical Journal, Vol. 300, 26 May 1990, pp. 1383–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D. Courtwright, H. Joseph and D. Des Jarlais (1989) Addicts Who Survived: An oral history of narcotic users in America, 1912–1965 (Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Crisp (1990) ‘The Police and the Public’, Home Office Research Bulletin, no. 29, pp. 15–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Dench (1991) Crime in a Minority Situation: The Maltese Case (London: Institute of Community Studies).

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Health (1990) Data from the Addicts Index, January to December 1989 (London: DOH).

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Dixon (1991) From Prohibition to Regulation: Bookmaking, Anti-Gambling and the Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • N. Dorn and N. South (eds) (1987) A Land Fit for Heroin? Drug Policies, Prevention and Practice (London: Macmillan).

    Google Scholar 

  • C. Fazey, P. Brown and P. Batey (1990) A Socio-Demographic Analysis of Patients Attending a Drug Dependency Clinic (Liverpool: Centre for Urban Studies, University of Liverpool).

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Giggs, P. Bean, D. Whynes and C. Wilkinson (1989) ‘Class-A Drug Users: Prevalence and Characteristics in Greater Nottingham’, British Journal of Addiction, Vol. 84, pp. 1473–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. Gilman and G. Pearson (1991) ‘Lifestyles and Law Enforcement’ in P. Bean and D. K. Whynes (eds), Policing and Prescribing: The British System of Drug Control (London: Macmillan).

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Gilman, P. Traynor and G. Pearson (1990) ‘The Limits of Intervention: Cyclizine Misuse’, Druglink, Vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 12–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • R. Hartnoll, R. Lewis, M. Mitcheson and S. Bryer (1985a) ‘Estimating the Prevalence of Opioid Dependence’, The Lancet, 26 January 1985, pp. 203–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R. Hartnoll, E. Daviaud, R. Lewis and M. Mitcheson (1985b) Drug Problems: Assessing Local Needs (London: Drug Indicators Project, Birkbeck College, University of London).

    Google Scholar 

  • S. Haw (1985) Drug Problems in Greater Glasgow (London: SCODA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Home Affairs Committee (1980) Race Relations and the ‘Sus’ Law, Second Report from the Home Affairs Committee, Session 1979–80, HC 559 (London: HMSO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Home Affairs Committee (1989) Drug Trafficking and Related Serious Crime, Vol. II: Minutes of Evidence and Appendices, HC 370—II (London: HMSO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Home Office (1984) Crime Prevention Home Office Circular HO 8/84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Home Office (1985) Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (s. 66) Codes of Practice (London: HMSO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Home Office (1988) Punishment, Custody and the Community, Cm. 424, (London: HMSO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Home Office (1990) Crime, Justice and Protecting the Public: The Government’s Proposals for Legislation, Cm. 965 (London: HMSO).

    Google Scholar 

  • S. Hyde, S. Balloch and P. Ainley (1989) A Social Atlas of Poverty in Lewisham (London: Centre for Inner City Studies, Goldsmiths’ College, University of London).

    Google Scholar 

  • Inner London Probation Service (1990) Drug and Alcohol Misuse: Summary of Demonstration Unit Interviews (London: ILPS).

    Google Scholar 

  • B. O. Johnson, P. L. Goldstein, E. Preble, J. Schmeidler, D. J. Lipton, B. Spunt and T. Miller (1985) Taking Care of Business: The Economics of Crime by Heroin Abusers (Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books).

    Google Scholar 

  • J. W. Joselit (1983) Our Gang: Jewish Crime and the New York Jewish Community, 1900–1940 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Kennedy, G. Mair, L. Elliot and J. Ditton (1990) Illicit Drug Use, Injecting and Syringe Sharing in Scottish Prisons in the 1990s (Glasgow: START (Substance Treatment Agency Reporting Team), University of Glasgow).

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Laister and G. Pearson (1988) Hammersmith and Fulham Drug and Alcohol Survey: Final Report (London: London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham).

    Google Scholar 

  • C. Lightbrown (1990) Millwall in the Community (London: Millwall Football Club).

    Google Scholar 

  • P. K. Manning (1980) The Nares’ Game: Organisational and Informational Limits on Drug Law Enforcement (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Metropolitan Police (1986) Drug Abuse: A Guide for Divisions on the Formation of Multi-Agency Cooperation (London: New Scotland Yard).

    Google Scholar 

  • H. S. Mirza, G. Pearson and S. Phillips (1991) Drugs, People and Services in Lewisham: Final Report of the Drug Information Project (London: Goldsmiths’ College, University of London).

    Google Scholar 

  • M. H. Moore (1977) Buy and Bust: The Effective Regulation of an Illicit Market in Heroin (Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books).

    Google Scholar 

  • H. Parker, K. Bakx and R. Newcombe (1988) Living with Heroin: The Impact of a Drugs ‘Epidemic’ on an English Community (Milton Keynes: Open University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • C. J. Pattison, E. A. Barnes and A. Thorley (1982) South Tyneside Drug Prevalence and Indicators Survey (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Centre for Alcohol and Drug Studies, St Nicholas Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne).

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Pearson (1987a) The New Heroin Users (Oxford: Basil Blackwell).

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Pearson (1987b) ‘Social Deprivation, Unemployment and Patterns of Heroin Use’, in N. Dorn and N. South (eds), A Land Fit for Heroin? Drug Policies, Prevention and Practice (London: Macmillan).

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Pearson (1991a) ‘British Drug Control Policies’, in M. Tonry (ed.), Crime and Justice: A Review, Vol. 14 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Pearson (1991b) ‘Drug Problems and Social Work’, in P. Carter, T. Jeffs and M. K. Smith (eds), Social Work and Social Welfare Yearbook 3 (Milton Keynes: Open University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Pearson (1992) ‘Drugs and Criminal Justice: A Harm Reduction Perspective’, in P. O’Hare, R. Newcombe, A. Matthews, E. Buning and E. Drucker (eds), The Reduction of Drug-Related Harm (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Pearson and M. Gilman (1992) ‘Local and Regional Variations in Drug Misuse’, in J. Strang and M. Gossop (eds), Responding to Drug Misuse: The British System (Oxford: Oxford University Press, in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Pearson, M. Gilman and S. McIver (1985) ‘Heroin Use in the North of England’, Health Education Journal, Vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 186–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Pearson, (1986) Young People and Heroin: An Examination of Heroin Use in the North of England (London: Health Education Council [2nd edition, 1987, Aldershot: Gower]).

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Pearson, A. Sampson, H. Blagg, P. Stubbs and D. Smith (1989), ‘Policing Racism’, in R. Morgan and D. J. Smith (eds), Coming to Terms with Policing: Perspectives on Policy (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Pearson, H. Blagg, D. Smith, A. Sampson and P. Stubbs (1992) ‘Crime, Community and Conflict: The Multi-Agency Approach’, in D. Downes (ed.), Unravelling Criminal Justice: Eleven Case Studies (London: Macmillan).

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Z. Rahman, J. Ditton and A. J. M. Forsyth (1989) ‘Variations in Needle Sharing Practices Among Intravenous Drug Users in Possil (Glasgow)’, British Journal of Addiction, Vol. 84, pp. 923–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. Reuter, R. MacCoun and P. Murphy (1990) Money from Crime: A Study of the Economics of Drug Dealing in Washington, D.C. (Santa Monica, California: RAND Corporation).

    Google Scholar 

  • W. S. Robinson (1950) ‘Ecological Correlations and the Behaviour of Individuals’, American Sociological Review, Vol. 15, pp. 351–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Safe Neighbourhoods Unit (1990) The Milton Court Report (London: Safe Neighbourhoods Unit and Lewisham Safer Cities Project).

    Google Scholar 

  • R. Samuels (1981) East End Underworld: Chapters in the Life of Arthur Harding (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul).

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Sampson, P. Stubbs, D. Smith, G. Pearson and H. Blagg (1988) ‘Crime, Localities and the Multi-Agency Approach’, British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 478–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Sampson, D. Smith, G. Pearson, H. Blagg and P. Stubbs (1991) ‘Gender Issues in Inter-Agency Relations: Police, Probation and Social Services’, in P. Abbott and C. Wallace (eds), Gender, Power and Sexuality (London: Macmillan).

    Google Scholar 

  • W. G. Skogan (1990) The Police and Public in England and Wales: A British Crime Survey Report, Home Office Research Study no. 117 (London: HMSO).

    Google Scholar 

  • D. J. Smith and S. Gray (1985) Police and People in London: The PSI Report (Aldershot: Gower).

    Google Scholar 

  • Southwark Drug Misuse Consultative Group (1989) Smoking Cocaine in Southwark (London: mimeo).

    Google Scholar 

  • G. V. Stimson and E. Oppenheimer (1982) Heroin Addiction: Treatment and Control in Britain (London: Tavistock).

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Strang, P. Griffiths and M. Gossop (1990) ‘Crack and Cocaine Use in South London Drug Addicts: 1987–1989’, British Journal of Addiction, Vol. 85, pp. 193–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S. Tippell and F. Aston (1990) Cocaine Use: The US Experience and the Implications for Drug Services in Britain (London: Community Drug Project).

    Google Scholar 

  • P. Townsend (1987) Poverty and Labour in London (London: Low Pay Unit).

    Google Scholar 

  • T. Williams (1989) The Cocaine Kids (New York: Addison-Wesley).

    Google Scholar 

  • T. Williams and W. Kornblum (1985) Growing Up Poor (Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books).

    Google Scholar 

  • C. F. Willis (1985) ‘The Use, Effectiveness and Impact of Police Stop and Search Powers’, in K. Heal, R. Tarling and J. Burrows (eds), Policing Today (London: HMSO).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 1993 Philip Bean

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Pearson, G., Mirza, H.S., Phillips, S. (1993). Cocaine in Context: Findings from a South London Inner-City Drug Survey. In: Bean, P. (eds) Cocaine and Crack. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22773-0_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics