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The crack/opiate empathy difference isn't about race. The opiate users mostly got addicted under the care of a doctor. Doctors don't normally prescribe anything
by tropo 10y ago
The crack/opiate empathy difference isn't about race. The opiate users mostly got addicted under the care of a doctor. Doctors don't normally prescribe anything like crack.
So there is a sense that crack users sought reckless fun, while opiate users were just trying to get medical treatment.
- hn_throwaway_99 10y agoOK, that is complete bullshit. Yes, many people got addicted to opiates originally through actual episodes of physical pain, but many didn't. And trying to pretend that that's the reason we treated black inner-city addicts like complete shit, but white folks get compassion and empathy, is absurd. It also doesn't explain why powder cocaine, which only rich people could afford, was criminalized much more heavily than crack, which was for poor people.
- tropo 10y agoI'm not seeing sympathy for meth, and that's largely white people. It's seldom prescribed in ways that addict people, unlike opiates. There exist white crack addicts. They also don't get sympathy. The key question: can we reliably assume that an addiction started for recreational reasons? If yes: no sympathy.