The Power of Drugs in the Ghetto

If the reader looks at the socio-cultural issues presented in this book, he/she cannot overlook the serious and ever-increasing impact of drugs, particularly crack cocaine, on the minority poor. In this work, the drug trade is portrayed as a "business," in which local individuals rise among the ranks to become managers and directors of distribution and sale within their own neighborhoods. The message is quite clear: Amoral individuals prey upon their own cultural groups, encouraging and contributing to addiction for personal gain. Ricky Santiaga, though he loved his family, was completely willing to increase his wealth at the expense of his community, members of which either became a part of his empire or addicts, completely destroyed by that addiction. Neither the dealers or the addicts are willing to accept the responsibilities of parenthood and productive lifestyles, and, of course serve to...