Pearl W. Versus Crack

Randy Olson

The Pittsburgh Press

Pearl W. became a crack addict after a family moved into the neighborhood and gave it to her for free. Within a week they were selling it to support her steady habit. She gave birth to an attention-deficit child during her addiction. Pearl rotates in and out of treatment only because the state threatens to take her child from her. Pearl knows the rest of the world wants her to be clean but she looks around her world and sees no reason not to be high.

Randy Olson, "Pearl W. Versus Crack," in POYi Archive, Item #19540, http://archive.poy.org/items/show/19540 (accessed November 23, 2024).