Black 'N Mild and carcinogenic: cigar smoking among inner city young adults in Hartford, CT.

Considerable concern has been expressed about the use of illicit drugs like heroin and cocaine among disadvantaged, minority youth and young adults in America's inner cities. Often overlooked in this research and associated public response are the far greater health consequences that stem from the use of legally sold drugs like alcohol and tobacco (Baer, Singer, and Susser, 2003, Singer, 2004). Recently, based on research in Miami/Dade and Alachua, Florida, Page and Evans (2003) have drawn attention to the significant rise in small cigars use among urban youth, especially African Americans between 11 and 15 years of age. They note that "a cigarillo called 'Black 'N Mild' that contains between five and twelve times the nicotine of cigarettes has become the product of choice among African American and other youth" in the counties under study (Page and Evans, 2003:64). To date, there has been only limited research on the existence of this practice among inner city youth and young adults in other locales (Malone, Yerger, & Pearson, 2001). This paper reports on findings on Black 'N Mild use from a study of changing licit and illicit drug use among inner city populations in Hartford, CT; these findings include similarities to and differences from the findings reported by Page and Evans. The study highlights the importance of examining regional differences in drug use patterns (Singer et al., 1992).

High notes: the role of drugs in the making of Jazz.

This paper examines the role played by illicit drugs, especially marijuana and heroin, in the historic development and evolution of Jazz in the United States during the twentieth century. In addition to an assessment of the extent of drug use and kinds of drugs used by Jazz musicians and singers, the impact and costs of drug use on the lives of people in Jazz, and the changing patterns of drug use during several eras of Jazz production, the paper contextualizes drug use among Jazz performers and societal response to it in light of prevailing ethnic inequalities and critical medical anthropological theory.

When the drug of choice is a drug of confusion: embalming fluid use in inner city Hartford, CT.

This paper examines the use of a new illicit drug--embalming fluid mixtures--in Hartford, CT based on a recent assessment of drug consumption in an outreach-recruited sample of 242 not-in-treatment active drug users. Sociodemographic, drug use, and health and social problems of drug users who do and do not use embalming fluid mixture are presented, revealing some notable differences between these two groups of street drug users. Despite regular consumption, we report that embalming fluid mixture users are often uncertain about what is in this new drug, despite experiencing often powerful effects. Urine toxicology findings from a subsample of individuals who used embalming fluid mixtures in the last 48 hours, reveal the frequent presence of phencyclidine (PCP) as well as other drugs. The public health implications of this new wave of PCP use are assessed.

Under the counter: the diffusion of narcotic analgesics to the inner city street.

During the past decade, there has been a well-documented rise in the non-medical use of prescription painkillers, often referred to as narcotics analgesics (NA). Relatively little is known, however, about who these users are, the range of health and social consequences associated with their use and the presence of illicit NA use on the inner city street. Results of a survey conducted with a sample of 242 street drug users indicated that NA use is now widespread in the inner city, and that it is associated with a number of serious health and psychiatric conditions. Other characteristics of this emerging drug user group are explored and the need for future research is highlighted.