Measuring Crack Cocaine and Its Impact

Authors

Paul Heaton, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law SchoolFollow
Roland Fryer
Steven Levitt
Kevin Murphy

ORCID

Paul Heaton 0000-0002-7948-1737

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-1-2013

Abstract

Numerous social indicators turned negative for Blacks in the 1980s and rebounded a decade later. We explore whether crack cocaine explains these patterns. Absent a direct measure, we construct a crack prevalence index using multiple proxies. Our index reproduces spatial and temporal patterns described in ethnographic accounts of the crack epidemic. It explains much of the 1980s rise in Black youth homicide and more moderate increases in adverse birth outcomes. Although our index remains high through the 1990s, crack's deleterious social impact fades. Changes over time in behavior, crack markets, and the user population may have mitigated crack's damaging impacts.

Publication Title

Economic Inquiry

Repository Citation

51 Econ. Inquiry 1651