In "Addiction Is Not a Disease," Stanton Peel contends addiction is a choice,
derived from the addict's desires and principles. "Addiction" to illegal drugs includes
free choice to indulge in and to continue using an illegal substance such as heroin or
cocaine. In the urban ghetto addiction represents a choice among a limited range of
options; in addition, addicts choose "essential experiences," such as the need for
power, which they cannot find without the addictive substance.
For some, living in the ghetto represents having few choices in their lives. Peele
writes, "......the farther down the social and economic scale a person is, the more likely
the person is to become addicted to......drugs......". In the urban ghettos jobs and cash
are scarce, but not as scarce as the knowledge to obtain them. The most obvious
entrepreneurial ventures do not escape attention. Drugs to many in this setting are the
"way out", whether it be the cash from selling or the "high" from using. Many addicts in
the ghetto get high to escape from the hopelessness and dispair in their lives.
Often, people who lack power over their daily activities choose drugs in order to
experience some sense of control. Peele writes, "Their sense of powerlessness then
translates into the belief that the drug......is extremely powerful. They see in the
substance the ability to accomplish what they need or want but can't do on their own."
Thirteen-year-old Sarah lives in Chicago with her mother, her father left the family when
Sarah was nine. Sarah's mother, employed with two jobs, depends on Sarah to care
for her three siblings after school each day and to complete the household chores that
her mother has listed on the cork board on the refrigerator. Sarah has little opportunity
to make friends or to participa...