Narcotics, Negroes and the South

Sociological literature for 30 years has shown an overrepresentation of Negroes in the known addict population. This study of addict admissions to the U.S.P.H. Service hospitals at Lexington and Fort Worth shows that there was a dramatic increase in Negro admissions in 1950. Although Negro narcotic addiction is almost entirely confined to northern metropolitan areas, what Negro addiction exists in the South is almost entirely from a few big cities. White addicts from the southern states, on the other hand, are chiefly from rural areas. Negro addicts from the South are younger than white addicts, but northern white and Negro addicts are the same age.