Author: jeriel javier

In the uppermost part of the new york city borough of manhattan, Washington heights is located. Extending from 155th street to 200th street you can find numerous stores, delis, restaurants, convenience stores, bars, etc. this is the place where I was born and grew up making me call it home. as a young kid Washington heights was the best neighborhood you could live in, the school was only two blocks from my home, I had friends everywhere in my street to play with in the summer with balloon fights and water guns, and there were multiple stores around me to buy chips and sweet whenever I wanted to with the few dollars that my parents used to give me. summers in this neighborhood were like a dream for a kid, no robberies, no weird people that would “kidnap” you as your parents told you just to scare you from not doing bad things. there was indeed always a presence of crime and drugs in the neighborhood but for some reason, this ironically never impacted the lives of our neighbors.

In the early 1900s Washington heights was the home of middle-class citizens that were European, Irish, German Jews, greeks, Russians, and immigrants who fled their country to earn and achieve the “American dream”.they occupied this neighborhood until the 1960s and 1970s where there was a “white flight” due to blacks and Latinos moving into this neighborhood. After the white flight Washington heights became a dominant Dominican population.

As you can see from this chart there is a low amount of people that are under 18 which explains why the streets consist of many people ranging from the 30s to the elderly age. people that are under 18 usually go to pursue their education, but after 18 many adults tend to leave the city searching for a better life, new opportunities, a fresh start, and a safer place to live in.

After the end of the “crack cocaine crisis” in the 1990s Washington heights became a neighborhood considered to be safe, which explains why maybe I had such a good childhood. After the 2000s gentrification started to appear in the community, new fast-food restaurants, big store chains, and more businesses took over abandoned spaces that were once planned to be used for new affordable housing apartments or mom-and-pop shops. this gentrification made the rent increase in an aggressive manner leading to many people having to leave their apartments and move somewhere else where it was more affordable.

After 2013 there was a noticeable change in the community. there were more drugs being sold on the streets leading to more drug users being around the community. The streets were not safe anymore, kids couldn’t play anymore because either there were angry drug users in the streets, or they could accidentally step over the numerous used needles laying around on the sidewalks. Fast food places like Mcdonald’s where a kid could eat a happy meal and enjoy the toy that came with it are now only used as a pickup order because drug users harass people there for hours until you give them the dollar that they asked for after denying multiple times the chance for you to buy them some food.

There is still hope that New York City finds a solution to this drug war that is occurring and find solutions to help and treat the drug users that are roaming around the community and streets.

Drucker E. Population impact of mass incarceration under New York’s Rockefeller drug laws: an analysis of years of life lost. J Urban Health. 2002 Sep;79(3):434-5. doi: 10.1093/jurban/79.3.434. PMID: 12200514; PMCID: PMC3456796.

This article focuses on the effects that drugs have created on small communities in New York city. From many people being incarcerated for the usage of drugs to also many people still dying of HIV. These are effects of drugs on communities that remain creating problems for many families in the New York city area, not only does this affect someone’s personal life but it does affect the family’s and relatives that are around that person and further damages the community.

Zuger, A. (2011). A general in the drug war. New York Times, D4.

on the other side this article talks about the more personal side of the drug users in general. Many drug users are usually incarcerated for short periods of time in jail, but for their drug addiction one day may seem like an eternity for them as their addiction for drugs become even stronger. After their release from jail many drug users get their hands on their preferred drug and take the usual dosage that they have built a tolerance to in the past, but after detoxing in jail their body is not capable of handling that large amount resulting in an overdose. This happens to more people than we think in all parts of the country and is a major problem that we are having today resulting in many lives lost on a daily and leaving families without their loved ones.

http://venturacountylimits.org.s94613.gridserver.com/media_documents/nyt_a%20general_061311.pdf

This article posted by the New York times talks about the scientific side on the addiction of drugs and a way to treat this addiction problems is talked about but needs further research for it to be identified as a certified way to treat addiction.it is explained that when drugs are taken there is an increase in dopamine to the body which gives you pleasure and of course there is an addiction to this pleasure by many people. Doctors and researchers have a couple of ways to treat addiction, but this needs the cooperation of the drug users. From patches to medications that block the effects of the the drug consumed. Doctors and researchers agree that these are hopefully way to stop addiction and help users achieve a better life, but without the cooperation of the users these options are not possible.

Zigon, Jarrett. 2015. “What is a Situation?: An Assemblic Ethnography of the Drug War.” Cultural Anthropology 30, no. 3: 501–524. https://doi.org/10.14506/ca30.3.07.

A different perspective is given in this article, instead of looking at the drug war as someone’s issue it is seen as what is called a “situation” where it is a global problem which affects everyone in the world and kills many people in the world every year. Also, this article focuses on the situation that for example many people affected by drugs see on the daily basis while they are living in their communities.

Sarao, S. (2017). The war on drugs: One approach to reduce overdose deaths in New York city. Kennedy School Review, 17, 35-40. Retrieved from https://bmcc.ezproxy.cuny.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/war-on-drugs-one-approach-reduce-overdose-deaths/docview/2188098883/se-2

This article gives even more options to reduce the deaths in New York city caused by an overdose of drugs.in the year 2011 and 2012 law enforcement and medical industries teamed up to fight against drug overdoses and deaths, this created a good effect. The numbers of people using nonprescription painkillers reduced and deaths also reduced. This showed what cooperation’s of law enforcement and medical industries can achieve and that is why there should be a better alliance in the present and future between the two. The article also states that there should be a better way to analyze the trend between overdose incidents to be better examined, gaps should be eliminated between agency’s responsibilities meaning not leaving the responsibilities only on law enforcement, and there should be a better ensurance on follow ups on people that have had a serious situation with drugs.

Washington heights is a neighborhood that is located in the uppermost part of the manhattan borough. While the majority of the population is Hispanic there are in fact 2.5% identify as Asian,7.9%identifying as black, and 19.2% identify as white. A drastic problem that has been occurring is the effects of the chaos of drugs and their users. Such things as needles on the floors, and groceries empty because drug users have robbed almost every item to sell for drugs, families, and friends not feeling safe at night because drug users might threaten them or rob them are constant occurrences that Washington heights citizens are experiencing.

Research: I will be researching how Drugs have impacted the environment or community of Washington heights.