Evolution in Community-Based Addiction Treatment Driven by the Crack Epidemic: A Professional Time-Line of Psychological Work in the Trenches of the War on Drugs

The 30 th year anniversary of the crack epidemic that dawned in 1984 provides opportunity for analysis of how the epidemic spurred evolution in community-based addiction treatment. The author’s professional time-line of psychological consultation work “in the trenches” of the War on Drugs is used for marking developments in the evolution of community-based addiction treatment driven by the crack epidemic. Presentation of this professional timeline sets the stage for a call for social action for social justice, and advocacy—especially collaborative advocacy with colleagues and community members. Eight objectives recommended to guide education and training seek to prepare a diverse workforce for engagement in collaborative advocacy. A case example from the author’s professional time -line demonstrates engagement in collaborative advocacy. Conclusions emphasize how the professional time-line effectively illustrated: (1) how the crack epidemic stimulated systematic evolution in community-based addiction treatment; (2) how the War on Drugs policy wrought devastation and trauma upon adults, infants, children, families and entire communities; and, (3) how the crack epidemic and unjust response of the War on Drugs policy, together in toxic combination, indelibly marred the lives of members of vulnerable populations—i.e., women, mothers, infants/children separated from parents, those who contracted HIV/AIDS, those who died of AIDS, AIDS orphans, multiproblem mandated clients, the incarcerated subject to lockdown in prolonged inhumane isolation, and MICAs (mentally ill chemical abusers). These vulnerable special populations may never have come into being—if not for the toxic combination of the crack epidemic and War on Drugs police, while they stand as a lasting legacy to their combined impact. Meanwhile, other contemporary diverse populations also entering treatment include sexual orientation minorities, and men who have sex with men. The imperative of training in competence with multicultural populations also represents evolution.