July, 1996


                      Dealing Crack Cocaine
               A View From The Streets of Honolulu

                  By Gordon James Knowles, M.A.

_________________

Officer Knowles is a federal police officer serving in the Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, Police Division. 
_________________

(A police officer takes an uncustomary look at the drug trade in
paradise.)

Criminal justice professionals generally view the urban drug
scene through their official contacts with it. For example,
police officers arrest offenders, judges and prosecutors try
defendants, probation and parole officers manage cases, and drug
treatment counselors treat patients. Such necessarily limited
exposure, however, may not provide a complete picture of drug
trafficking.

To uncover the dynamics and social structure of this illicit      
street activity, I interviewed and observed five drug runners who
sell crack cocaine in Honolulu, Hawaii's Chinatown district.1 The
perspective of these men and women involved in the drug trade can
offer insight into other ways to address the crack cocaine
problem.

THE STUDY

Setting

Hawaii, a well-known hub of international travel and tourism,
consists of eight major islands. Its capital, Honolulu, is
located on the Island of Oahu and is the largest city in the
state, as well as the focus of government and commerce. Eighty
percent of the 1.3 million people who live in Hawaii reside in
the city and county of Honolulu.

This study focuses on Honolulu's "Chinatown," which has been a
popular subject for previous research on deviant behavior.2
Chinatown also has been noted for a number of vice crimes, such
as gambling and prostitution, since the latter part of the 19th
century. Its vice district resembles similar sections of cities
around the world. One previous study described it thus:

At dusk, the dilapidated brick buildings come to life. Sailors,
"respectable citizens" out slumming, prostitutes, pimps, police
and vice squads men converge in the tattoo parlors, pornography
shops, movies, bars, and pool halls which line both sides of the
streets.3

Methodology

I collected data using field observations cross-checked by
interviews and preprinted questionnaires. The questionnaire
contained 22 open-ended questions asking the subjects how they
sold their crack cocaine. I also observed drug dealers conducting
transactions on the street, in vehicles, and in video theaters
that specialize in hard-core pornography.

In addition to observing and conversing casually with the
subjects, I conducted in-depth, taped interviews, paying them
from $10 to $20 in cash for their time, an amount comparable to
what they would make for a single drug transaction. Because of
the expense, I limited the sample to five subjects. Some
subjects, as well as members of the surrounding populace, were
using and under the influence of crack cocaine at the times of
observation.

Sample

The picture of a clearly defined structure of trafficking crack
cocaine in Chinatown emerged from the research. The street-level
drug trade consists of dealers, runners, promoters, and addicts
(buyers). Dealers supply crack cocaine to the promoters and
runners. Promoters locate or "hook" new buyers. Runners solicit
prospective buyers on street corners.

I selected five subjects to interview for this study using the
snowball sampling method.4 That is, I asked the first subject to
recommend the second subject, the second to recommend the third,
and so on, thus creating a snowball effect.

The sample included two black males, Fred and Darryl, one white
male, Carl, one white female, Toni, and one Filipino female,
Michelle. All of the subjects had moved to Hawaii from the
mainland. They ranged in age from 27 to 44, and each had
completed 1 to 3 years of college.

Only one subject, Darryl, reported a prior arrest history for
dealing crack cocaine on Oahu. Michelle reported an arrest
history, but only for prostitution, and Toni reported doing 6
years in a federal prison for embezzlement. Carl reported being
arrested frequently for offenses related to drug usage, i.e.,
theft and shoplifting, but never being arrested specifically for
using or possessing drugs. Fred reported two prior arrests on the
mainland for trafficking cocaine, but none for the 8 years he had
resided on Oahu.

All five subjects in this study defined themselves as runners. In
general, runners are crack addicts who traffic crack cocaine to
support their habits.

Runners stand on a street corner and ask passersby (on foot and
in vehicles) if they "need anything." Sometimes the inquiries go
unspoken, with the runners glancing at people and waiting for
nonverbal cues. They then take the buyers' money, exchange it for
drugs from the dealers, and run the drugs back to the buyers.5
The runners all claimed to be addicted and worked as runners to
support their expensive habits. The opportunity to get "free
smoke" by pinching a small portion of the amount purchased for
customers drew them to becoming runners, although they do not
discuss this practice with their clients. The subjects
rationalized that being a runner involved the greatest risk of
arrest, so taking free smoke was justified.

When asked why runners do not become dealers and thus gain more
access to crack cocaine, Michelle responded that the fear of hard
prison time deterred her. Carl also added that four big dealers
in Chinatown had a monopoly on  crack cocaine distribution. Toni,
Fred, and Darryl presented similar reasons that made becoming a  
dealer unattractive.

Carl also noted that most runners who were addicts and tried to
become dealers ended up "smoking their load" before it could be
sold. Toni stated that the "big time dealers" in Chinatown were
not users and were in the crack business strictly to make money.
This money would then be used for gambling or other types of
illegal revenue-generating schemes.

THE DRAW OF CRACK COCAINE

Why is crack cocaine so popular with the users? Smoking crack
cocaine produces a similar but more intense high than powdered
cocaine. Both induce excitement, euphoria, increased alertness,
and wakefulness, although the effects of powdered cocaine last
longer.

Noted for its intensity and pleasurable effects, cocaine has the
potential for extraordinary psychic dependency. A tape-recorded
conversation with Carl concerning the addictive power of crack
cocaine's high supports this claim. He said:

Well, whoever is hearing this, naturally you're an adult and
probably experienced an orgasm. Magnify that 10,000 times
throughout your whole body, and I do mean 10,000. That's why most
of your people who get into crack lose their sex life. They lose
their sex drive because crack is [their] whole new woman. That
might sound weird or stupid, but that's the way it is. It's a
feeling; it's a state of euphoria like you would not believe.
It's unreal, but if you've never done it, whoever I'm talking to,
don't ever try it.6

Members of the sample reported that they use crack cocaine to
forget about life or mask their personal problems until they can
deal with them, and they supposed their clients felt the same.
When asked about his experience while under the influence of
crack cocaine, Carl replied:

I feel high like you wouldn't believe.... It's hard to explain
how you feel.... I feel like I'm floating on air.... On one
hand...I feel like an idiot for doing what I'm doing and that is
absolutely nothing except getting high, but on the other hand, I
love it because I'm getting high as much as I want, when I
want...and that makes up for everything else. You see people who
live on the streets, 99 percent of them smoke crack because it's
a way for them to forget about life...forget about the things you
wanted in life...this is like a replacement.

For the subjects of the study, crack cocaine appears to provide  
an escape, however temporary, in exchange for a lifetime
commitment of usage. When asked how crack cocaine addiction could
be stopped, Carl simply stated, "You can't...period. It will be
on this earth as long as there is people. As long as there is
people, there will be people smoking crack cocaine." He advised
anyone considering trying crack cocaine, "Don't ever do it, don't
even try it once. You do it once, I don't [care] who you are, you
will be hooked for the rest of your life."

During the interviews, I raised questions about crack cocaine's
prevalence over other drugs, such as heroin, crystal
methamphetamine, and marijuana, in Chinatown. According to Carl,
heroin had lost its popularity because of the AIDS/HIV epidemic
among intravenous drug users. Carl and Darryl both explained that
marijuana was basically considered a "kiddie" drug, sold too
cheaply in large amounts for dealers to make a profit.

The subjects said that crystal methamphetamine (commonly referred
to as "ice") sold for less than half as much as cocaine and
provided a tremendously better high. Drug intelligence7 and
popular media reports indicated that ice was an epidemic on the
island. Despite these reports, hardly anyone approached me during
my research to buy ice. I frequently observed people smoking
crack cocaine on street corners, in dark alleys, and in doorways,
but crystal methamphetamine seemed almost nonexistent and
difficult to get in the Chinatown area. I concluded that factors
other than consumer demand apparently affected the drug market,
and I asked the subjects about those.

POLITICS OF THE DRUG SUBCULTURE

I initially assumed that concerted law enforcement efforts to
curb ice distribution on the island of Oahu led to its scarcity.
However, Carl and the others quickly dismissed this hypothesis,
believing that law enforcement had little or nothing to do with
it. Instead, a rigidly structured drug subculture controlled by
the dealers dictated which drugs could be bought and when.

Carl explained that nearly all of the cocaine comes from Colombia
and that organized crime groups in the United States and South
America would not let any countries in Southeast Asia (the source
of crystal methamphetamine) move in on the multibillion dollar
drug industry. The small amount of ice for sale on the island
came from the high percentage of individuals who had strong ties
with organized crime in Southeast Asian countries.

Carl then commented that these ethnic ties are not common
throughout the rest of the United States, and crystal
methamphetamine would not be easy to get outside of Hawaii. Toni
added that attempts by Southeast Asian organized crime groups to
move in on the mainland U.S. drug economy were met by death
inflicted by South American organized crime figures and
organizations. All of the subjects interviewed were quite
well-versed in the politics of the drug subculture.

In essence, it appears that the dealers set the agenda for what
drugs are marketed, irrespective of law enforcement efforts or
user preference. When asked why dealers preferred crack cocaine
over other drugs, Carl explained:

It has nothing to do with the high. Me personally, I've never
experienced crystal methamphetamine.... That's a whole new world
and it is probably a much better high than crack, and from what I
hear it is. But the problem here is that it's twenty times
cheaper than crack. If all the major drug dealers on this island
let crystal methamphetamine get out..., it would put them out of
business. In other words, if I was to buy a $10 bag of crystal
methamphetamine and smoke it, I'd be...wrecked for 10 or 11
hours.... Now a cocaine dealer doesn't want that...; he doesn't
want me spending $10 or $15 a day.... He wants me spending $150 a
day.... That's why they don't want [crystal methamphetamine] on
the streets.

To further understand the economic advantages of pushing crack
over other forms of cocaine, one must understand the
manufacturing processes involved. Dealers usually distribute
illicit cocaine as a white crystalline powder, often diluted by a
variety of other ingredients. The most common additives include
sugars, such as lactose, inositol, mannitol, and local
anesthetics, such as lidocaine.8

Addicts and dealers prefer free basing cocaine for a better high,
but this has a strong economic drawback from the dealers'
perspective, as Carl explained. To free base cocaine, users mix
powdered cocaine and baking soda in a ratio of three parts
cocaine to one part baking soda. They then place this mixture in
water and bring it to a boil. At this point the water appears
very oily. They then remove the mixture from the heat and allow
it to cool.  As it cools, the water becomes clear and the mixture
crystallizes into a rock-like form. The end product weighs
approximately one half of the original cocaine. It can now be
smoked in a pipe but no longer can be snorted.

Free basing is dangerous because cocaine hydrochloride (powdered
form) can become volatile when heated to convert it to a cocaine
base (rock form). In the early 1980s, cocaine commonly was
administered by snorting the powdered variety through the nasal
passages; however, the subjects stated that they and their
clients now prefer to smoke it.

Making crack cocaine follows the same basic procedure as free
basing, but dealers combine baking soda with an additional
ingredient, known on the street as "comeback." The runners said
that the Chinese invented comeback and that the big-time dealers
who sell crack cocaine have easy access to the substance. A Miami
study defined comeback as a cocaine analog, such as lidocaine,
that binds with the cocaine when heated and increases the volume
of the end product.9

Some substitute drugs have effects similar to crack cocaine, but
they are actually other stimulants marketed as the genuine
article. Known to some users as "crank," the mysterious
substitutes may contain free base residue, concentrated caffeine,
amphetamines, prescription stimulants, or any combination
thereof.10 A recent entry to this substitute market is pemoline,
a potent central nervous system stimulant used for the treatment
of attention-deficit disorders.11

For dealers, using comeback versus straight free basing in the
manufacturing process has significant ramifications. Comeback
doubles the original drug amount,  so that 1 ounce of powdered
co-caine becomes 2 ounces of crack. In contrast, free basing cuts
the original amount in half. Even though straight free basing
provides a better high for an addict, it cuts profits
tremendously for dealers and runners.

Effects of the Law

The subjects indicated that state laws affect the way crack is
dealt on the street. The runners seemingly were knowledgeable
concerning the current laws regarding crack cocaine and related
paraphernalia.

The crack pipe is a small cylindrical glass tube roughly 4 inches
in length and three-fourths of an inch in diameter. To smoke the
crack, the user inserts a copper mesh screen (similar to steel
wool) into the tube and packs it with a stick called a "pusher."
After the crack rocks are put into the tube and heated with a
cigarette lighter, the user inhales the smoke from the heated
crack.

Carl reported that simply having the crack pipe and the screen
separately was not an offense, but when the screen is in the
cylinder, possession becomes an offense. In fact, Carl's
description of a crack pipe falls under the Hawaii Revised
Statutes Uniformed Controlled Substances Acts as "drug
paraphernalia"--equipment used or for the intended use of
introducing a controlled substance into the human body. This
includes "metal, wooden, acrylic, glass, stone, plastic, or
ceramic pipes with or without screens, permanent screens, hashish
heads, or punctured metal bowls."12 Use or possession with intent
to use the crack pipe is a class C felony, and upon conviction,
one can be imprisoned up to 5 years, fined up to $5,000, or
both.13

The "pipe man" sells crack pipes and copper mesh screens on the
street. However, for this study, I purchased a "crack kit" or
"junkie kit" (a glass pipe and some copper mesh) from a local
convenience store for $8.50 (estimated to be about seven times
the actual value of the items). I went into the store and asked
the clerk if I could purchase a "glass straw." The clerk quickly
handed me a small brown paper bag and asked for the $8.50.
Although selling these items is not illegal,  their intended use
when purchased  is obvious.

I found it peculiar that a legitimate business would knowingly
contribute to the drug trade. However, follow-up interviews with
the subjects reported that these local establishments sold
anywhere from 40 to 50 pipes daily, earning $340 to $425 a day in
crack pipe sales alone.

The monetary incentive apparently persuades storekeepers to
market crack pipes. Toni commented that the pipes were of poor
quality and usually cracked from the intense heat needed for
smoking crack; she believed the storekeepers sold these poor
quality pipes intentionally to get repeat buyers.

The quantity of drugs sold also was influenced by state laws. All
of the runners I interviewed commonly sold an amount of crack
cocaine called a "dirty thirty." The dirty thirty appeared to
weigh roughly less than one eighth of an ounce, and it sold for
$30. By trafficking crack cocaine in this amount, the runner can
be convicted only of a class C felony, promoting a dangerous drug
in the third degree.14

The runners stated that they and their clients conducted drug
transactions in this amount specifically to reduce the potential
criminal penalties. From these comments, it appears that fear of
incarceration does have some impact on suppressing drug
trafficking.

Income and Housing

The subjects had difficulty reporting the exact amount of money
they made from dealing crack. They reported an average of $300 a
day from crack sales, but explained that they also got $150 to
$200 each day in free smoke, which they valued just as much as
money, if not more.

Estimating the amount of crack the subjects smoked daily also
proved difficult. Michelle commented on her crack consumption:

Well, I was thinking about that the other day. For instance,
let's say an eight ball [$300 worth of crack cocaine] or three
bullets [one bullet equals $100 worth of crack cocaine], I can
easily smoke that in a day, no problem. I mean, I've had the pipe
up to my mouth every 15 minutes, every 5 minutes, every 1
minute.... How much I smoke depends on a number of things, the
amount of dope I have, the availability of dope in town, it just
depends. ...[A]nd when supplies are low my usage is low and I
have to hook to make the difference.15

Despite their earnings from selling crack or sex, all the
subjects reported that they were homeless. The men lived on the
streets, but the women would try to find a "date" to sleep with
at his house or require him to purchase a hotel room for them in
exchange for sex. The women would resort, however, to sleeping on
the street when necessary. The women had the option of bartering
sex for money to survive when Chinatown's crack cocaine supplies
became scarce, whereas the men did not.

Even though the subjects gained a substantial amount of free
smoke from running crack, that alone did not satisfy their
addictions. They reported that a significant amount of their
monetary earnings still went to purchase crack to get high, not  
leaving much for food or housing. They also explained that going
back and forth from a residence or shelter 10 to 20 times a day
to purchase crack was impractical, making it actually easier to
live on the streets of Chinatown.

In addition, all the subjects reported running crack all day and
night (there was no "best" time), which made living on the
streets advantageous. They handled the need for a place to get
high by using the  24-hour pornographic video theaters in
Chinatown.16

OBSERVED BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS

The drug runners described their method of selling crack cocaine,
and I later observed this     pattern of activity taking place on
the streets of Chinatown. It did not appear to be specific to any
one   race, gender, or class; all of the    runners dealt cocaine
in this man-ner. This may suggest that officers could use similar
observations to identify individuals involved in drug
transactions.

Carl described a typical transaction in which an addict drives by
in a car and holds up two fingers to a runner. This symbol means
that the buyer wants to purchase a $20 rock of crack cocaine.17
The runner then approaches the buyer, receives the money, and
quickly goes to one of the local bars or pornographic video
theaters where the dealers have set up a safe house.18 After
giving the dealer the money and receiving the crack cocaine, the
runner either takes a quick hit of the crack or pinches a small
amount on the way back to the buyer. (Because the runners are
addicted, they usually must take a hit of crack cocaine at least
every 15 minutes.)

The runner then returns to the vehicle, giving the buyer the
crack cocaine. If the runner encounters law enforcement officers
on the return to the buyer, he or she drops the small amount of
drugs onto the ground, knowing that the small rocks of crack
quickly will become lost on the busy city street corner.

CONCLUSION

This study, and others like it, can provide criminal justice
professionals with a deeper understanding of the complexity of
drug trafficking. Such knowledge might not put an end to the drug
trade, but, armed with a better understanding of the drug world--
the participants, their motivations, and their methods--police
officers, prosecutors, judges, probation and parole officers,
drug treatment counselors, as well as educators, can make more
informed decisions in their attempts to squelch the drug trade,
help addicts overcome their dependencies, and prevent the
insidious influence of crack cocaine from reaching any deeper
into our communities.

Endnotes

1 The author conducted this research as part of his doctoral
studies in sociology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
2 See, for example, A. Lubliner, et al, The Honolulu Queens,
Graduate Research Project, School of Social Work, University of
Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1973; G. Yoshimoto,
Prostitutes of Hotel Street, Graduate Research Project, School of
Social Work, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii,
1983; and G. Knowles, A Study of Hotel Street Prostitutes in
Honolulu, Hawaii, 1992, Criminal Justice Department, Graduate
Thesis, Chaminade University of Honolulu, 1992.
3 Ibid., Lubliner, et al, 1.
4 Snowball sampling is a nonprobability sampling method often
employed in field research and most popular in studying deviant
cases. For further information, see M. Maxfield and E. Babbie,
Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology (Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 1995).
5 Although some of the subjects reported trafficking additional
commodities, such as heroin, marijuana, women, and sex, they all
said they spent the majority of their time dealing and generating
revenue from crack cocaine sales.
6 Interview by author, March 28, 1995, Bishop and Merchant
Streets, Chinatown, tape recording, Honolulu, Hawaii.
7 National Institute of Justice, The Rise of Crack and Ice:
Experiences in Three Locales, NCJ 139559 (Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Justice, 1993).
8 U.S. Department of Justice, "Drugs of Abuse, Drug Enforcement
Administration," 1988, 37.
9 J. Inciardi, R. Horwitz, and E. Pottieger, Street Kids, Street
Drugs, Street Crime: An Examination of Drug Use and Serious
Delinquency in Miami (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 1993),
100.
10 J.A. Inciardi, The War of Drugs, Heroin, Cocaine, Crime, and
Public Policy (Palto, CA: Mayfield Press, 1986), 82.
11 Susan E. Polchert and Robert M. Morse, "Pemoline Abuse,"
Journal of the American Medical Association, August 16, 1985,
946-7.
12 Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Uniform Controlled Substances Act," 
Section 329-1, Hawaii Criminal and Traffic Law Manual, 1994, 270.
13 Ibid., 286.
14 Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Promoting a Dangerous Drug in the
Third Degree, Sections 712-1243," Hawaii Criminal and Traffic Law
Manual, 1994, 448.
15 Interview by author, March 18, 1995, Bethel and Hotel Streets,
Chinatown, tape recording, Honolulu, Hawaii. 
16 In Chinatown, the pornographic video theater serves as the
Hawaiian version of the mainland crack house. The drug runners
reported conducting drug transactions in the pornographic video
theaters and stated that, on average, 70 percent of their drug
transactions occurred exclusively in these theaters. They also
used the theaters themselves for getting high about half of the
time and estimated that an average of 86 percent of the people
who entered the theaters did so to get high.
17 The driver may hold three or four fingers, meaning "I want a
$30 or $40 purchase of cocaine." Prices above $40 and below $20
are usually negotiated verbally between the buyer and seller,
using code words such as "bullet" ($100 worth of crack) and
"eight ball" ($300 worth of crack). These terms are mutually
exclusive in drug trafficking lingo.
18 On April 6, 1995, I conducted a reconnaissance of a particular
establishment that was a safe house for crack dealers and
observed a number of lookouts and body guards who had been
deployed by the dealers. This practice seemed to explain how
extremely difficult, if not impossible, it is for uniformed law
enforcement to gain access or reach the dealers before being
detected and reported by the lookouts.

Sidebar

What Are You Wearing?

I asked the drug runners how they identified undercover police
officers. I expected them to tell me an elaborate story about
testing strangers' knowledge of the lingo of drug transactions or
something similar. Instead, the runners said that the police
could easily be identified by their footwear.

In Honolulu, police officers' uniforms are black with black
tennis shoes. Trained in street survival, undercover officers,
even though they wear clothes that blend in with the population,
often wear their tennis shoes to be ready to fight, chase a
suspect, make an arrest, etc. In general, drug runners do not
have tactical training, so they wear what is comfortable-usually
sandals or flip-flops because of the heat. The drug runners said
they immediately pick up on the black tennis shoes, which, to
them, signal an undercover officer.

I looked down at my feet and realized that I was wearing black
tennis shoes, a carry-over from my own law enforcement training.
The next night, I changed my footwear to brown high-tops. I
immediately had more people willing to be interviewed than ever
before.

What do you wear that might give you away?