The cia was consequently not only involved in and ultimately responsible for the innercity crack epidemic. Ciasupplied contra planes and pilots carried cocaine from central america to. The full story of the 1980s crack epidemic is still yet to be told. The cia, the drug dealers, and the tragedy of gary webb. Crack cocaine was popularized because of its affordability, its immediate euphoric effect, and its high profitability. Ross used the cocaine imported by the cia to set up a cocainedistribution network in major cities throughout the united states. That the plot supposedly involved associates of the central intelligence agency selling drugs in black neighborhoods to finance an anticommunist crusade in central america made perfect sense. Victor thorn is a hardhitting researcher, journalist and author of over 50 books cia, obama team up to hide darkest secrets. Plumlee flew weapons into latin america for decades for the cia. These conditions were further strained during the 1980s and 1990s by the widespread use of crack cocaine. Small doses of it are smoked into the lungs and delivered quickly to the brain.
Based on a yearlong investigation, reporter gary webb wrote that during the 1980s the cia helped finance its covert war against nicaraguas leftist government through sales of cutrate cocaine to south central l. Here are 10 things to know about gary webb and his report that linked the cia to crack cocaine. Recent coverage of the congressional battle over central intelligence agency cia snooping on the senate intelligence committee has served to obscure the real story of the cias misdeeds and the demands to cover them up. However, the mercury news series contained or at least many readers interpreted it to contain a new sensational claim. Reagan declared that illicit drugs were a direct threat to u. Both the cia report and the house report acknowledged that a cia contractor known by the pseudonym ivan gomez was involved in drug trafficking. Cia and cocaine how the cia sparked the crackepidemic. We find that our measure of crack can explain much of the rise in black youth homicides, as well as more moderate increases in a wide range of adverse birth outcomes for blacks in the 1980s.
The article suggested that the cia and other agencies of the united states government were responsible for the crack epidemic that ravaged black communities across the. For many, crack use became an obsession, dominated their lives, and superseded family responsibilities. The crack epidemic the history of crack cocaine drug. Crack epidemic, the significant increase in the use of crack cocaine, or crack, in the united states during the early 1980s. This drug ring opened the first pipeline between colombias cocaine cartels and the. Congress passed laws that created a 100 to 1 sentencing disparity for the possession or trafficking of crack when compared to. Webb alleged that profits from these crack sales were funneled to the ciasupported contras. Later, gomez admitted in a cia polygraph that he participated in his brothers drug business in florida. The secret flow of drugs and money, webb reported, had a direct link to the crack epidemic that devastated californias most vulnerable african american neighborhoods.
The us governmentcia is responsible for the crack epidemic. The uk reported an increase of 74% in seizures of crack cocaine in drug raids between 2000 and 2006. For more than a decade, panamanian strongman manuel noriega was a highly paid cia asset and collaborator, despite knowledge by u. In the 1980s, cocaine was a club drug, glamorized by.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, the outbreak of hiv and aids swept across the united states and rest of the world, though the disease originated decades earlier. The crack epidemic in the united states was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the united states between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. The topic of this statement is fueled by the growing abuse of cocaine in the mid 1980s. Did the cia play a role in launching the crackcocaine epidemic. The cia, contras, gangs, and crack based on a yearlong investigation, reporter gary webb wrote that during the 1980s the cia helped finance its covert war against nicaraguas leftist government through sales of cutrate cocaine to south central l.
The newspaper articles suggested that the united states government had protected blandon and meneses from prosecution and either knowingly permitted them to peddle massive quantities of cocaine to the black residents. Cia involvement in contra cocaine trafficking wikipedia. Key figures in ciacrack cocaine scandal begin to come forward. Gary webb and the san jose mercury news have performed a tremendous community service by publishing the excellent threepart series aug. All the time that this crack epidemic was being unleashed by the contras, vice president bush was the man in charge of the reagan administrations central america program, overseeing all of the activities of the cia, the pentagon, and every other government intelligence agency. A powerful series by investigative reporter gary webb of the san jose mercury news says the answer may be yesand the charge. The reagan administration and the cia also collaborated with nicaraguan cocaine traffickers to support the contras led to the crack epidemic of the 1980s. The crack epidemic had particularly devastating effects. I shall discuss the effects of the crack cocaine epidemic of the mid 1980s from a cultural and social stand point because on that decade this country moved to the rhythms and the pace of this uncanny drug. How one journalist linked the cia to the crack epidemic. The cia certainly assisted the contras, and the contras had known cocaine ties.
The true story of the 1980s crack epidemic is still untold. Just as bad was her pushing of the equally ludicrous fiction that the cia was responsible for the crack epidemic that gutted our inner cities in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the early 1980s, the cia sent gomez to costa rica to oversee the contra operation. Many in the media have also postulated that any drugtrafficking contras. When the contra revolution took off in the 1980s, plumlee says he continued to transport arms south for the spy agency and bring cocaine back with him, with the blessing of the u.
The crack epidemic in the united states was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the united states between the early 1980s. The crack epidemics impact on black communities 91. It is one of the most highly additive and destructive drugs in the world. What is beyond doubt is that cia was directly responsible for the importation of tons. Measuring crack cocaine and its impact harvard university. Cia supplied contra planes and pilots carried cocaine from central america to. A series of expose articles in the san jose mercurynews by reporter gary webb told tales of a drug triangle during the 1980s that linked cia officials in central america, a san francisco drug.
Now, webbs bombshell expose is being explored anew in a documentary, freeway. Key figures in ciacrack cocaine scandal begin to come. The cia, contras, gangs, and crack institute for policy studies. This resulted in a number of social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in american inner city neighborhoods, as well as a resulting backlash in the form of tough on crime policies.
Special reports cocaine, conspiracy theories and the cia in. Aaron dixon, the former seattle chapter captain for the black panther party, is writing a book on the impact of crack cocaine on black communities. In his report, webb who had won a pulitzer in 1989 for a different story claimed that the cia was partly responsible for bringing crack cocaine to the united states in the 1980s. A number of writers have alleged that the united states central intelligence agency cia was involved in cocaine trafficking during the 1980s.
Cia director john deutch, meanwhile, has ordered his inspector general to file a report on the subject within 60 days. Neighborhoods and families were severely impacted by this epidemic. Ciacontra connection recent central american history. This past weekend, the hollywood version of what pilot and drug runner barry seal did for the cia in the 1980s, opened in movie theaters across the country. At the same time that tens of thousands of black people across the county are suffering from an addiction to crack cocaine and being incarcerated for it by the us government, the cia was working with the drug traffickers responsible for selling the cocaine that sparked the epidemic. Essay about the crack cocaine epidemic of the mid 1980s. The cocaine that flooded in helped spark a crack explosion in urban america. Even ross saw cocaine at 19 in 79, so it was established well before the crack epidemic of the 80s, and likely without cia assistance. Although our crack index remains high through the 1990s, the deleterious social impact of crack fades. On october 14, 1982, president ronald reagan declared a war on drugs, doublingdown on an initiative that was started by richard nixon. Special reports cocaine, conspiracy theories and the cia.
Cia admits tolerating contracocaine trafficking in 1980s. Okay, so then how involved was the cia in importing the most important ingredient cocaine. After reading about gary webb exposing the cias potential complicity in l. According to the stories, the cia and its operatives used crack cocainesold via the. The cia, contras, gangs, and crack institute for policy.
Central intelligence agency a number of writers have alleged that the united states central intelligence agency cia was involved in cocaine trafficking during the 1980s. Agency to receive the cocaine which decimated black communities in the 1980s. Part ii from the cias dirty war in nicaragua timothy alexander guzman, silent crow news the reagan administration and the cia also collaborated with nicaraguan cocaine traffickers to support the contras led to the crack epidemic of the 1980s. According to one article, the cocaine that flooded in through blandons drug ring helped spark a crack explosion in. The findings will be required reading for anyone concerned by the rise of crack, but given the cias habit of burying its own past, undoubtedly not the final word. One of the most talked about conspiracy theories of the mid80s and early 90s had to do with the crack epidemic. In 1996, a bombshell report by journalist gary webb claimed that the central intelligence agency cia supported cocaine trafficking into the u. The crack epidemic changed life in the american city beyond recognition in the 1980s, and understanding the lingering effects of that transformation is the responsibility of those who hope to learn from the past or understand the plight of the addicted, who come from every walk of life. This creates a short high, followed by tiredness, depression, panic, anxiety, and brain damage. Snowfall is a onehour drama set against the infancy of the crack cocaine epidemic and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it. If you go see the film, there are some things you should keep in mind, as hollywood is prone to. Crack epidemic united states history 1980s britannica. Numerous african american families have struggled for generations with persistent poverty, especially in the inner city. The severelydistressed african american family in the.
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