High Price

Szalavitz. Claire went far beyond her editorial responsibilities by serving in multiple roles. Thank you for treating me like a writer and for being my sounding board, clinical psychologist, and friend. Without your subtle but clear and firm guidance, this book would have been a superficial and uninteresting read. Maia, your professionalism is unmatched. You kept me on schedule despite my best efforts to delay and avoid dealing with difficult personal issues within these pages. I am also deeply appreciative of your teaching me how to write an engaging story. This is not a lesson taught in most science education programs.
    Melissa and Marc Gerald, of course minus your efforts, this project would not have been undertaken. While serving on an NIH grant review committee with Melissa, late one evening at dinner, she suggested that I meet with her literary agent brother about writing a book. I thought she was just being kind by indulging my atypical ideas. As it turned out (and I am grateful), Marc agreed with her and put the Agency Group’s best efforts into seeing the project through to completion. Sasha Raskin, my coagent, thanks for being patient with my endless inquiries about the publishing process.
    On most days, I feel fortunate to have an intellectual home at Columbia University in the departments of psychology and psychiatry and the Institute for Research in African-American Studies, where I learn from some of the most talented thinkers. I owe a tremendous debt to my many coauthors, colleagues, and students. These individuals took the time to teach me about drugs, science, and life. The arguments and discussions in which we engaged helped to shape several of the ideas put forth in this book. I am particularly indebted to Charles Ksir, James Rose, Fredrick Harris, Robert Krauss, Norma Graham, Lynn Paltrow, Rae Silver, Catalina Saldaña, and Susie Swithers. Some of these individuals even read and reacted to early drafts of the manuscript.
    To my family, thank you all for your support and allowing me to share your stories. Robin’s early encouragement provided much of the fuel that helped me power through some inevitably difficult portions of the process. Writing this book would have been impossible were it not for the sharp memories of Jackie, Brenda, Beverly, Patricia, Joyce, Gary, and Ray. In addition, Ray’s ability to find obscure newspaper articles about Carver Ranches and our childhood friends is truly amazing. His research helped me to tell a richer story.
    Finally, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge a few government programs for their contributions toward my physical and intellectual development without which this book might not have been written: Aid to Families with Dependent Children (welfare as we once knew it), the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Supplemental Grant for Minorities in Biomedical and Behavioral Research, and the National Institute of Mental Health–Society for Neuroscience Predoctoral Minority Fellowship. In recent years, programs aimed at redressing past American racial discrimination have come under attack. Without such programs, however, I seriously doubt that I would have become the scientist, educator, and tax-paying citizen that I am today.

Notes
    Chapter 1: Where I Come From
    1. J. C. Anthony, L. A. Warner, and R. C. Kessler, “Comparative Epidemiology of Dependence on Tobacco, Alcohol, Controlled Substances, and Inhalants: Basic Findings from the National Comorbidity Survey,” Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology 2 (1994): 244–68; L. A. Warner et al., “Prevalence and Correlates of Drug Use and Dependence in the United States. Results from the National Comorbidity Survey,” Archives of General Psychiatry 52, no. 3 (March 1995): 219–29; M. S. O’Brien and J. C. Anthony, “Extra-Medical Stimulant Dependence Among Recent Initiates,” Drug and Alcohol Dependence 104 (2009): 147–55; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings , NSDUH series H-44, HHS publication no. (SMA) 12-4713 (Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2012).
    2. Gwendolyn Mink, Poverty in the United States: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, and Policy (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004), vol. 1, p. 187.
    3. Linda Swanson, “Racial/Ethnic Minorities in Rural Areas: Progress and Stagnation,” U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic