NCJ Number
136505
Journal
Hofstra Law Review Volume: 18 Issue: 3 Dated: (Spring 1990) Pages: 567-606
Date Published
1990
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This article explores the potential consequences of cocaine legalization for adolescents and children, based upon the experience of Covenant House, an independent, not-for-profit agency that provides assistance to homeless youths through clinics and programs in New York, Toronto, Houston, Fort Lauderdale, New Orleans, Anchorage, and Los Angeles.
Abstract
The article first describes Covenant House's struggles with the ravages of cocaine among the kids who seek crisis shelter and services and then examines other evidence that bears directly on cocaine abuse among street kids. Another section examines the extent of cocaine use among American adolescents, suggested causes for such use, and its effects. Also analyzed are various means of protecting adolescents and children from the damaging presence of cocaine in society including criminal prohibitions, prevention efforts, and treatment. The article concludes with an inquiry into the possible effects of cocaine legalization on the social contract (to provide government support for the poor and disabled) that was forged in the United States in the New Deal; common ground between opponents and advocates of legalization is suggested. The article advocates the maintenance of criminal sanctions against cocaine trafficking combined with renewed prevention and treatment efforts. 237 footnotes