CRACK-COCAINE USE AND STREET CRIME

Most existing research on the relationship between drug use and street crime relates to heroin users and thus predates the widespread availa bility of crack-cocaine; social science studies of crime among crack u sers are few in number and focus on a limited set of offense types. Th is article reports findings from interviews with 387 adult crack users in Miami, Florida, regarding their drug use and criminal histories an d their current involvement in a broad range of criminal activities. M any significant differences are noted between the street and treatment subsamples, particularly an earlier drug and crime initiation and a m ore exclusive focus on one crime type - retail drug sales - among stre et respondents. Gender differences are markedly smaller, especially in the street sample. Comparisons are also made between the street sampl e and a similar sample of heroin users interviewed in Miami some ten y ears earlier.