# Ambivalid: I know a crackhead, so I'm professor of crackology now **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 1, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554 "2012-05-01T20:41:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/101 "2012-05-03T18:20:54Z")
> [@Meatros](#): > > If there are exceptions then you can’t say **all** , now can you? > > **That aside, where are the studies that suggest that most/almost all crack heads are sexually promiscuous?** > > I have no dog in this fight - I only knew one person who did crack (that I remember) and he wasn’t addicted to it. I also haven’t researched the matter, so please present your studies so that I may peruse them. Can you respond to this, particularly what’s bolded? ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/102 "2012-05-03T18:24:21Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Of course a rich person would be an ‘exception’. At least for as long as they were “rich”. How is this even noteworthy? Just the first step in dismantling your ludicrous hypothesis. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/103 "2012-05-03T18:27:43Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Is it scary having this power, knowing the fates of all mankind in alternate universes? Tell me, what would have happened to me if I hadn’t gone back to grad school? Would I still have the same job? Would I be a crack whore or a regular whore? Did you read the “most likely” prefacing my comments; or did you just ignore that so you could make your dig? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/104 "2012-05-03T19:57:16Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Is it scary having this power, knowing the fates of all mankind in alternate universes? A little, but it’s mostly depressing. > [@Smeghead](#): > > Tell me, what would have happened to me if I hadn’t gone back to grad school? You would have found true love at an all you can eat Chinese Buffet, but you also would have gotten mugged in the parking lot of that Radio Shack by the mall. > [@Smeghead](#): > > Would I still have the same job? No, you would have become a song and dance man. > [@Smeghead](#): > > Would I be a crack whore or a regular whore? You would be an irregular whore, but you would have gotten over your crack additction. It’s the cholesterol that would have gotten you in the long run. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/105 "2012-05-03T21:46:59Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Did you read the “most likely” prefacing my comments; or did you just ignore that so you could make your dig? Oh, I read it. I just didn’t think it made your comment any less mind-bogglingly stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/106 "2012-05-03T23:11:08Z")
> [@Meatros](#): > > Can you respond to this, particularly what’s bolded? > **[Redirect Notice](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=crack%20and%20sex%20impulses&source=web&cd=85&ved=0CD0QFjAEOFA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fukpmc.ac.uk%2Farticles%2FPMC3250516&ei=6Q-jT8H0OYb2gAfIoqAq&usg=AFQjCNFSRkKR52ov-ed2Bq0nzMHBrLay2w)** Crack and cocaine use among adults has been associated with co-occurring psychiatric disorders as well as other drug use and unprotected sex. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/107 "2012-05-03T23:18:09Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > [Redirect Notice](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=crack%20and%20sex%20impulses&source=web&cd=85&ved=0CD0QFjAEOFA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fukpmc.ac.uk%2Farticles%2FPMC3250516&ei=6Q-jT8H0OYb2gAfIoqAq&usg=AFQjCNFSRkKR52ov-ed2Bq0nzMHBrLay2w) > Crack and cocaine use among adults has been associated with co-occurring psychiatric disorders as well as other drug use and unprotected sex. It’s not technically “promiscuous” but it is unsafe sex practices. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/108 "2012-05-03T23:24:05Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Oh, I read it. I just didn’t think it made your comment any less mind-bogglingly stupid. To say that Whitney Houston, a confirmed drug addict and crack smoker, very well (even most likely) could/would have wound up prostituting to support her addiction _if_ she had never been ‘blessed’ with her singing talents and the subsequent fortunes (as well as the swarm of enablers that come with such fortunes) that resulted, is “mind-boggingly stupid” to you? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/109 "2012-05-04T02:57:13Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > To say that Whitney Houston, a confirmed drug addict and crack smoker, very well (even most likely) could/would have wound up prostituting to support her addiction _if_ she had never been ‘blessed’ with her singing talents and the subsequent fortunes (as well as the swarm of enablers that come with such fortunes) that resulted, is “mind-boggingly stupid” to you? To claim that you can predict, with any degree of accuracy, the course of someone’s - anyone’s - life had they followed a different path or made different choices is mind-boggingly stupid. To claim this knowledge because of their drug use is to define their whole lives by that one aspect of their history. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/110 "2012-05-04T03:12:36Z")
109 posts and no one’s invited Mr. Mackey to the party? “Crack’s bad, mmm’kay?” ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/111 "2012-05-04T03:40:06Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > To claim that you can predict, with any degree of accuracy, the course of someone’s - anyone’s - life had they followed a different path or made different choices is mind-boggingly stupid. To claim this knowledge because of their drug use is to define their whole lives by that one aspect of their history. I never said “if Whitney had made different choices”. If her addiction to crack wasn’t enabled by her wealth, she would have found other ways of enabling that addiction. That is simply how addicts function. It is not anything specific to Whitney Houston; other than the fact she was a chronic cocaine addict. Now, there is the chance that had she never become a star and become rich, she may have never been introduced to the drugs that she ultimately became addicted to-I don’t know specifics of her life. But given her troubled history, it is likely that her addictive nature would have materialized either way. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/112 "2012-05-04T12:30:14Z")
And that’s it exactly. BECAUSE she was an addict, you think you can predict her behavior. You think you know precisely what she would do in any situation, because in your mind, her addiction is the overriding drive in her life. You have, in essence, reduced a complex human being to a mindless drone driven to do nothing but feed her addiction. This is exactly why people are irritated with you here. And, yes, to preemptively answer you, I’m sure there ARE some people who are reduced to that. Perhaps many. Possibly even most, though personally I’d want to see some actual research on that. But to claim that every single one of them are like that, which is strongly implied when you think you can predict an individual’s behavior, is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/113 "2012-05-04T12:30:27Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > [Redirect Notice](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=crack%20and%20sex%20impulses&source=web&cd=85&ved=0CD0QFjAEOFA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fukpmc.ac.uk%2Farticles%2FPMC3250516&ei=6Q-jT8H0OYb2gAfIoqAq&usg=AFQjCNFSRkKR52ov-ed2Bq0nzMHBrLay2w) > Crack and cocaine use among adults has been associated with co-occurring psychiatric disorders as well as other drug use and unprotected sex. Okay, I took a look at this. First thing to notice is that the average age of the people in this study was about 15. Second thing to note is that this study suggests that the kids who do engage in sexual activities do so unprotected at six times the rate of non crack (and cocaine using) using kids. From the study: > [@](#): > > More specifically, this study examines the association between adolescent crack and/or cocaine use and sexual risk behavior given the strong association with sexual risk behavior in adulthood. So this study doesn’t support your contention that crack (and I’ll be generous and include cocaine) users are more sexually promiscuous than non crack/cocaine users. This study and the ones linked seem to indicate that among the already sexually active people, those who use substances (crack/cocaine) are particularly prone to unsafe sexual activity. I’m looking for studies that show crack or cocaine lead to hyper sexual activity in almost all users (or an overwhelming majority) or something that indicates that more than 50% of crack/cocaine users have engaged in sexual favors for crack/cocaine/money to buy drugs. Do you have any studies to back those notions you’ve put forward? ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/114 "2012-05-04T12:34:15Z")
One of the studies linked to by that initial study was interesting and maybe it’ll point to other studies that will help your contention. Here’s [the study](http://ukpmc.ac.uk/abstract/MED/11926253): > [@](#): > > Almost three-quarters (70.6%) of these incarcerated adolescents regularly use one or more substances. Inconsistent condom use and \*\*sex with multiple partners (\>2) \*\*was reported by approximately 70% of those surveyed. The regular use of substances elevated the odds of having sex with multiple partners (OR = 11.88), exchanging sex for money or drugs (OR = 4.64). and inconsistent condom use (OR = 3.06). Now, this study isn’t specific to cocaine/crack. Also, I’m uncertain as to whether they are saying that the sex happened outside of the incarceration or not - I assume it is. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554/115 "2012-05-04T12:50:18Z")
In Portnoy’s Complaint, the young guy shagged a piece of liver. Obviously a crackhead. Offal his brain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambivalid-i-know-a-crackhead-so-im-professor-of-crackology-now/620554.md?page=5)