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Crack Cocaine Research Paper

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The Cocaine Epidemic
The beginning of the crack cocaine epidemic began in the early 1970’s when crack cocaine was considered a fashionable drug for entertainers and businesspeople. Cocaine helped users stay awake and it gave them energy for the day. It was popular for businessmen or anyone with a stressful job to take. It even spread to colleges as we see in most colleges the amount of students experimenting with cocaine increased tenfold from 1970 to 1980. By the late 1970’s Colombian drug cartels began smuggling massive amounts of cocaine into major United States cities, primarily Miami and New York City. Cartels were getting creative and had many ways to get the drug into the United States. After the cartels got cocaine into major cities …show more content…

However cocaine was able to become a major epidemic for it was used by all sorts of people, it was not only used by the businessman who needed to keep alert, it was also used recreationally by kids and adults at parties to get a quick high. The epidemic formally started in 1984 when the number of people using the drug on a routine basis increased from 4.2 to 5.8 million. The numbers had been rising but this was the largest rise in numbers yet in the epidemic.
Cocaine was able to create such a massive epidemic for the United states government had other things on their plate and they couldn’t worry about a growing epidemic. The government was much more focused on Russia and dealing with the communists. By not keeping an eye on the epidemic they were unprepared for the spark in the drug and failed to acknowledge the epidemic until late into the cocaine epidemic. Cocaine was also one of the most accessible illegal narcotics in the country. Cocaine was being brought into the United States at such a rapid rate …show more content…

After the Colombian government was able to assassinate Pablo on a rooftop. After his death, the amount of cocaine coming out of Columbia was slowed as a whole, so the price of the cocaine rose. Also, the American government began to do a better job of arresting anyone with the possession of cocaine or anyone who was related to the business of handling and selling cocaine. America was not able to eradicate the problem but fewer businessmen used the drug and it was riskier to have the drug for being caught could result in a hard

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