Sex Differences in Cocaine Use and Experiences: A Double Standard Revived?

Abstract

Women's use of prescription medication exceeds that of men's and yet is not viewed with the alarm and disapproval that accompanies women's lower levels of use of alcohol and illicit drugs. Reports in the media, based on anecdotal accounts, have identified women as a group at particular risk for cocaine addiction and have suggested that their problems with cocaine are greater than men's. After reviewing the scientific literature and analyzing the results of an original research study, this paper argues that there is no evidence that women's cocaine use exceeds that of men's, that women's rates of use are growing faster than men's, or that female cocaine users experience more problems than male cocaine users. Since the deviant image of the female cocaine user is a social construction lacking a factual basis, we conclude that a different standard is being applied to women who use cocaine than to men who use cocaine.

“She began to sniff cocaine right away and soon fell into a state of moral indifference, got involved in sexual relations, became incapable of carrying on her professional work, and broke with her family.” [1, p. 188]

“Within four years, cocaine cost me my job, my husband, my self-respect, even my daughter.” [2, p. 119]