The world is full of people who profit from other people’s misfortune, a clichéd phrase but true. On Friday, Michael Spencer, 35, of Palatine was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $100,000 for paying girls cocaine to work as prostitutes. This man became a millionaire.
 
The Chicago Tribune quoted Shari Chandra, an assistant state’s attorney, as saying “He’s a dealer in women.”
 
Well, not only is he a dealer in women, he’s a dealer in drugs.
 
A CeaseFire outreach worker once told me that a lot of women get into prostitution because of drugs. A pimp will give them cocaine or heroin for free to get them hooked. Then, he’ll start asking for money. In order to pay for the drugs, these girls sell what they have—themselves.
 
The Center for Problem-Orienting Policing says that crack makes the prostitution issue even worse:
 
Crack cocaine markets drive down the price of street prostitution, as some prostitutes, desperate to buy drugs, sell sex cheaply. Other prostitutes resent them for driving down prices or permitting sex without condoms, and pimps punish them for withholding their earnings to buy drugs. Drug-dependent prostitutes are more vulnerable to violence and more likely to rob their clients. In summary, where drugs and street prostitution are linked, street prostitution becomes less predictable and more dangerous.
 
So, drugs and prostitution deal out a double blow. Take a look at this series of photos from the Hollywood Police Department showing the effects of drugs and prostitution on one woman over the years.
 
Women in the Victorian era became prostitutes in order to survive. This is what survival looks like today.

1. maudestandish, January 27, 2008:

   Survival is terrifying. Did they arrest him as a dealer as well? I hope he got the double blow himself.