The topic I am going to talk about is the association between drug addiction and street prostitution.
There is a strong relationship between substance abuse and prostitution. One third of women addicts support their habit by working as prostitutes. This is where the economic theory is linked; women prostitute themselves for money intended for the purpose of drugs. A Baltimore study of female street addicts found that 96% of the daily users resorted to not only prostitution but other crime to feed their addiction. As one prostitute stated, she would never get into a strangers car when she is sober, but when she is high, she will do anything for money for her next hit. She is currently incarcerated for putting a syringe to a taxi driver's neck and telling him that if he didn't give her his money, she would poke him with the AIDS infected needle. .
The most common addiction among prostitutes is heroine and/or crack cocaine. The addiction can become so bad that prostitutes will even price according to one hit. The two most popular forms of these drugs are "rocks and flaps". Rocks are crack cocaine, a drug that has already been cooked with ammonia or baking soda and has been formed into a rock like shape. The rock is smoked, usually through a pipe or pop can. Flaps consist of a point of heroin or cocaine in a powder form. The powder is then injected through a needle, snorted or smoked. The price for a flap or a rock starts from ten dollars in the downtown east side area. According to a few prostitutes who work in the downtown eastside, state that the average price for a trick is usually $20-40 but some have even gone as low as $5 because they want a quick fix. According to one prostitute she usually needs ten flaps a day to feed her habit and another one needs up to 16. The addictive qualities of crack can be such that some call it the "new pimp".
Another theory associated with prostitution and drugs is the Enslavement Theory by Paul Goldstein.
