The Crack Fiend Pro

Cynthia, a prostitute and crack/heroin user since the age of 13.

This particular category of sex workers is by far the most well-known of all. Although crack addicts comprise only a small fraction of prostitutes, the media has unintentionally turned them into the representatives and spokespersons of the entire sex industry. Think about it – shows like Cops and The First 48 selectively film in low-income cities with high minority populations, such as Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore, Oakland, Kansas City, and the like because these locations are the most likely to have high rates of crime. I have to admit, I’ve always wanted The First 48 to come to Los Angeles so that I can see what kinds of crime occur in my neck of the woods, but let’s be honest, they would never in a million years film in Westchester, where I currently live, or Beverly Hills, or even Chinatown. After all, whites and Asians are boring and apparently never commit crime. No, they would undoubtedly choose to film all the way across town, in Compton or perhaps South Central Los Angeles, where the enclaves of low-income blacks and Hispanics are primarily located. In the process, they inevitably contribute to the already negative race stereotypes of these minorities, but hey, who gives a damn as long as The First 48 is the number one crime show on cable television, right?

Similarly, when these crime shows profile sex workers, the fact that they are filming in very low-income cities greatly increase the chances that these prostitutes are of the drug-addicted streetwalking variety, and therefore this profile becomes what society generally associates with prostitution. When society hears the word “prostitute”, the first image that usually comes to mind is one of an unhygienic woman who is high out of her mind, dressed in skimpy clothing and ripped fishnet stockings with unkempt hair and smeared makeup. More often than not, however, and especially in recent years, this image is completely the opposite of what a typical prostitute is actually like, as illustrated by the increasing numbers of sober, good-looking college students who use escort websites as a way of exchanging sex for money.

Ironically, although crack fiends represent the prostitution industry, they are often the most looked down upon amongst their peers. It turns out that their role in making society view prostitution negatively affects other prostitutes even more so than we might think. Beyond perpetuating the stereotype of the drug-addicted streetwalker as the typical prostitute, it appears that the way crack fiends look and act are directly affecting their peers’ finances.

In an interview with various prostitutes, Roy Campbell, a reporter from Philadelphia, found that because crack fiends charge significantly lower rates than other sex workers do, johns begin to expect lower prices for sexual services. According to the prostitutes that Campbell spoke with, crack fiends typically charge less than $10.00 for their services since they are so addicted to drugs that they are willing to do anything for any sum of money to feed their habits. Unlike other prostitutes, who are selling their bodies to support their families or to pay their way through school, crack fiends do not need to make very much money to acquire what they want. As long as they can get their hands on some money to purchase a little bit of drugs and get high again, crack fiends will do practically any sexual act, including but not limited to giving out blowjobs for $5.00, or even less than that in some cases.

As a result, johns become so accustomed to these crack fiends’ low prices that they begin to expect the same rates from all prostitutes in general. Thus, when other pros try to charge their usual rates, johns often begin negotiating with them. If the pros refuse the johns’ proposition, the johns will leave to shop around for lower prices, while the pros lose out on countless money-making opportunities. Consequently, many sex workers have been forced to lower their prices because of the competition.

Furthermore, the presence of drug-addicted streetwalkers also often leads to an increase in the level of police patrol because these kinds of prostitutes are so easy to spot with their dirty, unkempt appearance. The increase in patrol scares off potential customers, therefore making it even more difficult for other kinds of prostitutes to make money. According to Campbell, crack fiends also tend to scare off customers in another way: by “raising medical concerns about the further spread of AIDS and other infectious diseases because [crack-addicted] women do not use condoms or take other precautions, as professional prostitutes often do."

Streetwalking crack fiends apparently pose a direct threat to the livelihoods of other prostitutes. In addition to making society view prostitution negatively, crack fiends scare off many potential clients and even force other sex workers to lower their rates. However, although they are frequently associated with prostitution, crack fiends are in actuality changing the prostitution game. Instead of resembling the dirty-looking drug addicts who sell their bodies on a street corner, the new wave of prostitutes are young college students who are increasingly turning to the web, where there is virtually no police scrutiny, to attract higher-end clientele. In essence, as despised as crack fiends may be in their circle of peers, they are the ones who should be thanked for contributing to the emergence of sugar babies, who will one day comprise the largest population of prostitutes but will likely never be stigmatized by the media the way that crack fiend pros are.