Pubdate: Fri, 13 Dec 2019
Source: USA Today (US)
Copyright: 2019 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/625HdBMl
Website: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/index.htm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466
Author: Shannon Mullen

CRACK VS HEROIN: 2 RACES, 2 RESULTS

Dannis Billups' addiction nightmare began with an actual nightmare
when he was about 4 years old. His daddy sat him on his knee and gave
him a half-can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer to soothe him.

In the 1980s, he joined the "family trade," a young black man peddling
crack cocaine on the streets of Newark, New Jersey, profiting from
other people's addiction and pain.

Within a few years, he became his best customer. His life became a
never-ending ride on the criminal justice carousel: arrests, jail,
probation and then back in the system for another spin, some two dozen
times, on and off the ride he went.

"They would never offer you treatment," said Billups, now 53. "They
would just lock you away and forget about you."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt