413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Drug Use, Sex Work, and the Crack Epidemic of the Mid-1980s
through the 1990s
The crack cocaine epidemic of the mid-1980s through the 1990s changed the landscape of the unlawful
commercial sex market on the street. As explored in this chapter’s literature review, researchers noted
that during this time, street-based sex workers began to trade sex to support crack dependencies,
developed addictions to this drug as they conducted their sex work, and played a significant role in the
unlawful drug markets (Dalla 2000; Fullilove et al. 1992; Graham and Wish 1994; Inciardi et al. 1993;
Potterat et al. 1998; Sterk et al. 2000; Thukral and Ditmore 2003; Thukral et al. 2005).
This study builds on previous studies’ findings, using the information provided by individuals who traded
sex in the years between 1970 and the present day to document just how transformative and lasting an
effect crack cocaine use had on the street-based sex market. This section discusses participants’ drug use
prior to and during their careers as sex workers, and the following section explores the enduring effects
that crack use had on the street-based sex market and those working in it.
Drug Use and Sex Work
Sex workers were forthcoming about their drug use over the years. Twenty-six of the 36 sex workers (72
percent) indicated that they used crack cocaine at some point in their lives. Furthermore, twenty-four
individuals (67 percent) noted that they sold sex in exchange for drugs at some point in their careers. Nine
(25 percent) stated that they had clients who paid for sex acts in money and drugs. Nine (25 percent) sex
workers dealt drugs once or on multiple occasions.
Drug use was quite extensive. One Denver-based sex worker noted that she was “getting high on
anything.” She explained that as drug addictions deepened, the need for fast money grew. She noted, “The
thing is, the more strung out you get, the quicker you have to get your money” (J6).
Some of the respondents dealt drugs or served as middlemen for drug dealers during the time they traded
sex. Ten of the 36 (28 percent) sex workers in this study noted they dealt drugs once or on multiple
occasions. A 49-year-old respondent from Denver, who cycled in and out of jail and had a long-standing
addiction to narcotics (including morphine, OxyContin, and heroin), described her involvement in the
drug trade:
I had a regular guy [a john]. I would sell it too. Or I’d play middleman, because the person
who I got my dope from, that was best around, so they would say, you know
[“nickname”], that’s what I went by. They’d go through me. They’d have to give me one
bag per transaction, if it was more than $50, every $50 more, they’d need to give me a
bag. (J8)
Similar to this sex worker from Denver, many sex workers reported that they used drugs like heroin, PCP,
marijuana, and powder cocaine, as well as alcohol, throughout their lives. They further indicated that drug
use was pervasive among sex workers even before crack use became rampant. One 49-year-old sex worker
from Washington, DC described the trajectory of her drug use, which exemplifies those of other
respondents for whom drugs played a central role in their lives:
I have always been doing marijuana. The next thing was PCP. I got tricked into doing
that. I was going to the club all the time. Someone said, let’s go to the park to smoke
weed. I knew it wasn’t burning the same … I went back to the club, got hot flashes,
delusions. I swore I would never do it again. The next night I did PCP again. [That] lasted
for a while, maybe five years to about the time I was 26 years old. Then I moved on to
crack cocaine in the mid-1990s. (L2)
This trajectory is a familiar one for many sex workers. In the mid-1980s and 1990s, study respondents
started to use and rely heavily on crack, as well as other substances. They did so for a number of reasons,
ranging from being influenced to do so by those in their social circle to being compelled to use it during
sex work. Others started trading sex after they began using crack.
Some started consuming crack voluntarily; however, it was implied that it was their social environment
that was the driving factor that initially compelled them to use. Sex workers reported witnessing
227