# Have you ever really KNOWN a crackhead? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 1, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472 "2012-05-01T01:36:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/41 "2012-05-01T04:26:15Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Is that the same son who you were asking Dopers for advice on the best way to have him declared a Ward of the State, so you wouldn’t have to care for him any longer? No, actually. I was considering entering him into a group home because of the depression and violent behaviors that he was suffering at the time. I also stated quite openly that I had decided not to pursue that, and to keep him at home. (And yes, he’s much better now and doing well, thanks for asking.) Why throw that up in my face now? What’s your point? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/42 "2012-05-01T04:26:56Z")
**Alice** is fine. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/43 "2012-05-01T04:27:03Z")
> [@living\_in\_hell](#): > > Huh? Because I corrected the language to proper diagnostic terminology? Hey don’t hate the player, hate the game…“inadequate personality disorder” used to be a formal diagnosis too. > > Go get some sleep Alice. Life’s too short to get so angry at an Internet stranger. 🙂 You sound like a ladies man. You’ve got the “gift” my dearly departed friend **Yakuza** spoke so longingly of… ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/44 "2012-05-01T04:29:43Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > You’re being sarcastic, right? Because everything he has said about crackheads is wrong (okay, _both_ things). Including that use does not mean addiction. It’s pretty commonly known that crack can be devastatingly addicting with just one use- if you’re using it regularly, you are surely a crackhead. Sorry for not responding earlier. It is moot now though, as you can plainly see I was indeed being sarcastic about **living\_in\_hell** being an expert on much of anything. ---
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/45 "2012-05-01T04:30:31Z")
Good night all. Sleep well. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/46 "2012-05-01T04:30:37Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Sorry for not responding earlier. It is moot now though, as you can plainly see I was indeed being sarcastic about **living\_in\_hell** being an expert on much of anything. I did know that- just checking. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/47 "2012-05-01T05:02:43Z")
> [@living\_in\_hell](#): > > Maybe you could start by not saying things like “crack whore”? She is a human being. I said it because that is the exact phrase her mother used when she told me the situation. The girl had literally turned to prostitution to pay for her habit. She cared far more for the crack than she did for her child. So much so, the courts gave the child to her parents. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/48 "2012-05-01T05:09:38Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I said it because that is the exact phrase her mother used when she told me the situation. The girl had literally turned to prostitution to pay for her habit. And it’s not simply that they turn to prostitution-other addicts do this as well; heroin, etc. What is different, and what makes other prostitutes look down on crackwhores (who are both men and women, make no mistake) is the demeaning, anything-goes whoring of one’s body for the tiniest bit of money or of the drug. They will do anything; with anybody. And for those who think they knew of someone who used crack but wasn’t “like that”; trust me: THEY WERE. You just didn’t know about it. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/49 "2012-05-01T06:05:24Z")
My mother was once on the cover of Crack Whore Magazine. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/50 "2012-05-01T06:27:56Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > My mother was once on the cover of Crack Whore Magazine. If it turns out there really exists such a magazine…I would have my mind blown 😮 ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/51 "2012-05-01T07:16:47Z")
I never realized just how bad the crack epidemic was until I saw an educational film called New Jack City. It changed my life. Seriously though, crack is bad news. We ought to start a letter writing campaign to let President Reagan know how concerned we all are. I think the best course of action would be to pass some new laws that require super harsh prison sentences on small time crack dealers. I bet that will clear the problem right up. I’ve known several crackheads. To steal a line from a previous post, I had the privilege of working with quite a few of them in a professional capacity. To me, their most defining characteristic was the comically absurd amount of effort they would expend to steal copper piping. Also, a disproportionate number of them worked as roofers. ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/52 "2012-05-01T09:37:17Z")
Alice is absolutely right - a crackhead does become subhuman while they’re addicted. My cousin and his wife are/were crackheads and any contact with them is just a f-ing horror show. From my aunt they stole checks, cash, credit cards, computers, collectibles, jewelry, just anything of value. At least four crashed cars, my aunt’s car “rented” to a crack dealer and the lease car that some dealer shot up, likely while they were trying to drive away without paying. They’re like locusts and what keeps them housed and fed are the five kids they dragged through more than a decade of addiction. You look into my cousin and his wife’s eyes and you see zero and it’s scary. It’s been hideous. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/53 "2012-05-01T09:55:28Z")
While I’m sure this post will be either flamed, “True Scotsmanned” or conveniently ignored…I have to say the only daily crack user I know personally (as opposed to professionally) is a successful Broker with the Chicago Board of Trade making 6 figures a year with a lovely family and literal white picket fence. He’s a total spaz, and I don’t like him much, but he’s very functional. With no scabs. On the other hand, he’s a Broker. Eew. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/54 "2012-05-01T10:37:43Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > They will do anything; with anybody. And for those who think they knew of someone who used crack but wasn’t “like that”; trust me: THEY WERE. You just didn’t know about it. And you know this because… you’re a crackhead, maybe? The only person I’ve ever known for a fact who smoked crack was a guy I knew from I factory job and hung out with until I found out he smoked crack. I never saw him turning tricks. He didn’t have scabs, wasn’t homeless, wasn’t skinny. On the contrary, he was a bodybuilder-- picked up weightlifting when he was in prison. I found out he smoked crack when I told him I wanted to some new CDs and he said he knew a place I could buy some. We drove to a mildly run down apartment and, hey presto, they had crack instead instead of CDs. You’d never know it from looking at him. He did have trouble turning up for work and got canned. I did some drinking with his uncle and got an earful about how the guy blew a lot of money on drugs, including selling off a nice car. Nothing about turning tricks, though, sorry. So what does my experience mean? Not much. It’s just one guy, after all. But I’d thought I’d throw it in there as it goes against the pronunciations of a couple of posters who don’t seem like they know as much as they claim. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/55 "2012-05-01T10:47:49Z")
I’ve never met a crackhead, and I feel socially inadequate as a result. I’ve met heroin junkies and meth-heads, but thus far crackheads have eluded me. What can I do to get in with the cool-crowd who KNOW crackheads? Is there a special password or summat? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/56 "2012-05-01T10:52:12Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > What can I do to get in with the cool-crowd who KNOW crackheads? Is there a special password or summat? “Hey, want some crack?” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/57 "2012-05-01T12:35:46Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > FTB I realize you deleted the text you originally posted, MPB, but as everyone can see, others have quoted it so it still appears — and it is inappropriate. Your intent is clear with ‘FTB’ and it’s insulting. Let me remind you that you’ve been cautioned about this before and further posts of this nature will result in warnings, which puts your posting privileges at risk. Heed this reminder unless you want to go down that road. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/58 "2012-05-01T12:43:42Z")
Why does “FTB” not warrant a full warning? If it were spelled out it wouldn’t even be a question on if it should get a warning or not. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/59 "2012-05-01T13:04:19Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > No, Im asking if you’ve known them personally, known them as friends or family. Because it is only then that you can truly understand this drug and how it changes a person. That’s pretty much what ANY drug addictions does - it sucks the decency out of human beings. I used to work at a drug treatment clinic. I’ve known thousands of addicts. I keep hearing about how this drug or that drug is the worst. You know what? They _all_ suck. They all do horrible things. Their addicts do horrible things. The details differ, but addiction is hell on earth no matter what poison the addict favors. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472/60 "2012-05-01T13:09:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Now this was not someone I was particularly close to > [@](#): > > You are a shining example of the ignorance out there regarding this drug. You know nothing. > [@](#): > > No, Im asking if you’ve known them personally, known them as friends or family. Because it is only then that you can truly understand this drug and how it changes a person. > [@](#): > > You absolutely know nothing about this topic. That’s just the thing; She’s not human. > [@](#): > > And for those who think they knew of someone who used crack but wasn’t “like that”; trust me: THEY WERE. You just didn’t know about it. Ah, the instant expert, with a side of judgmental douche. You should really consider re reading your own posts, y’know for nonsense, before hitting send. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-really-known-a-crackhead/620472.md?page=4)