Lecture on heroin addicts spurs debate

A lecture intended to be an informative discussion sparked clashes yesterday between the speaker and his diverse audience -- which ranged from an Urban Studies freshman seminar class to admitted drug users. Philippe Bourgois, acclaimed author of In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio and more than 50 other works, focused on heroin addicts' views of the dangers of contracting HIV through needle sharing in his talk at the Annenberg School for Communication. Bourgois chairs the Anthropology Department at San Francisco University and is a research fellow at the San Francisco Urban Institute. In the course of his research among heroin addicts in parks in downtown San Francisco, Bourgois has won acceptance from the communities he studies. They allow him to make first-hand observations of how they function. Bourgois's field study revealed that needle sharing among the addicts in the "shooting encampment" is a risky but daily behavior. There is a political economy of survival involved, in which the mentality is one of debt obligations. "If I share with you tonight, you will owe me when I can't get the money for the drugs another time," Bourgois explained. His studies further revealed that addicts worry about getting their drugs before they worry about their health. Addicts told Bourgois that the "pursuit of ecstacy" is more of an immediate concern than health. During a question and answer session after the talk, an admitted heroin user and outreach volunteer in the audience confirmed his conclusions. "That first shot in the morning, you don't care if you've got clean works," he said. "After that, yeah, sure, you want the clean works. But until you're high, it don't matter." The session quickly became a verbal assault on Bourgois and his work. Most of the critical comments were actually directed at his book, In Search of Respect, rather than the lecture at hand. The book examines the lives of Puerto Rican crack cocaine dealers in East Harlem, N.Y. Two Puerto Rican members of the audience said Bourgois portrayed all Puerto Ricans as impoverished drug abusers. Bourgois responded by acknowledging the portion of the Puerto Rican population that positively contributes to society. And one student stood up in the author's defense, reading an excerpt where Bourgois regretfully predicted this reaction. Throughout the hour of audience questions, Bourgois was constantly forced to defend his studies against similar charges of racial bias and lack of understanding. At times, Urban Studies Co-Director Elaine Simon had to step in to prevent specific audience members from simply arguing with Bourgois. "It is pathetic that we are displaying such hostility towards each other!" the author exclaimed in frustration. After the lecture, Bourgois said he had never dealt with such adversity toward his work. The author came to the University as part of the 12th annual Urban Studies Public Lecture. Senior Urban Studies majors chose Bourgois for the lecture and selected his books for in-depth study this year.