Not your typical Belltown crackhead

Erica at the Belltowner blog today points to a compelling article in the Belltown Messenger. Aiming to break stereotypes, reporter Sammy Heward tells the story of someone you wouldn't think of as a typical Belltown addict, writing: "With the advent of the "Belltown crack smokers" video, the focus is negatively on the male disenfranchised black person smoking crack in the alleyways of Belltown. But it is the widespread usage among people you don't usually notice which belies the stereotyping of the crack smoker as a dribbling dirty black man completely addled from smoking crack." The result is a write-up about an encounter with a 30-something girl Heward calls "Hanna" who visits Heward's apartment and takes Heward along on a trip to buy drugs. Interesting stuff - but it's scary how easy it is for Hanna to get a hold of drugs in the neighborhood.