Prostitutes on crack cocaine: Addiction, utility, and marketplace economics

The connections between prostitution and drug use have long been a topic of social research. Much of this work has focused on the use of opiates, especially heroin. With the increasing availability of a smokable form of cocaine commonly called “crack,” new questions have emerged about the basic relation between drugs and prostitution.

Drawing on interviews with 39 crack‐using female prostitutes, this article presents evidence of three different aspects of a prostitute's orientation to crack cocaine: the addictive nature of cocaine, the practical utility of cocaine use, and the marketplace economics of cocaine as it relates to prostitution. These three orientations overlap: The cocaine use of most women in the sample was consistent with two or three of the orientations. The uses and implications of this typology are discussed.