Abstract
The 1993 National Household Survey showed that 54,000 African American women bad smoked crack cocaine at least once in the previous month; for the first time, a larger percentage of African American women are using illicit drugs than their Euro-American counterparts. To better understand the interpersonal and family context in which African American women who smoke crack came to use drugs, the authors aimed to characterize the drug and alcohol abuse of parents, siblings, and spouses of such women. A total of 161 women who reported smoking at least SlOO/week of crack cocaine were recruited into this study. At the time of data collection, 110 women were in treatment, and 48 were still using. Sixty-five percent of the participants reported at least one parent with a drug or alcohol problem, and sibling use was equally bigb. These data are consistent with previous research with female heroin users.