Chapter 3: Foreign Ground

Theme: Drugs can impact the person using them, and the people surrounding them.

Quote 1: “ A father who left his family and robbed his parents for money to buy rock.”

This quote is from a story being told by Wes’s friend about the addictiveness of the drug crack. The drug impacted not only the father’s life but also his families and the person that he robbed in order to get more drugs. This shows that drugs do not only affect the person using them. Crime can be involved with drug use as well. As more people started using the additive drug, neighbor hoods got less safe as crime rates and murders increased.

Quote 2: “ There was so much money to be made that drug gangs became rapidly expanded in their ranks, sucking in some of our best friends, and turf wars became deadly, aided by the influx of sophisticated firearms.”

From this quote Wes is explaining how many people got into highly violent “drug gangs” because there was so much money to be made. The people using the drugs were negatively impacted, but also the people that were selling them were impacted as well. Turf war shootouts were becoming more common as the drug reached popular demand. Loved ones and “ best friends” were being killed which left their families broken and torn apart. This quote shows the theme about how the user of drugs and the people surrounding them are affected.

Quote 3: “ Their mayhem spread from the gangs to the rest of their neighborhood.” “ Everyone felt threatened.” “ Everyone was defensive.”

This quote shows the true danger and harm one can be put in when using or surrounding them with drugs.  Gun violence started to increase and spread as drugs became more popular. The use of drugs affects “ everyone” because people were fearful of their lives from dangerous gangs.  Many innocent non-drug using people felt “ threatened” because they were in neighborhoods where drugs were common. This quote shows the theme about how many people can be affected by drugs even when they are not using them.

Quote 4:  “ Two incidents were decisive in Mary’s decision to move.” “First, Tony got shot in the chest during a botched drug deal.”

Tony was impacted greatly when he got shot in the chest over a drug deal. This shows the violent actions of what can happen when dealing with drugs. Her son being shot, which caused her to make the decision to move, also affected Mary. Tony’s mother was not using drugs but she was still highly impacted when her son got shot. This quote shows how multiple people can become affected from just one person’s decisions on using drugs.

Quote 5: “"We were starting to feel the fear that crept around the edges of our consciousness at dusk... Justin knew the rules; Never look people in the eye. Don't smile, it makes you look weak. Always keep your money in your front pocket, never in your back pocket. Know where the drug dealers are at all times. Know where the cops are at all times.

This quote shows how drugs affected Wes’s life. Even though he did not use crack, he felt the need to know where the drug dealers were at all times. This helps show the theme by showing how unsafe Wes felt because of the crimes and gangs in his neighborhoods. The crime rate was increasing because people needed money in order to buy more drugs. This quote shows how people can feel threatened in their own neighborhoods because of the violence that is caused by drugs.