...for these numbers:
The average crack addict needs $100 to $500 a day to maintain his/her habit. Since fencing of goods obtained in a burglary nets about 20 cents to the dollar, the burglar/thief must steal $500 to $2,500 worth of goods a day.
I find it interesting that absolutely no source was cited for these figures, and that the Chronicle would let such unsubstantiated figures stand in a letter in their pages. From what I've heard, crack isn't nearly expensive enough to support such numbers. Hell, crack's entire raison d'etre is its lower cost compared to powder cocaine. A Google search for "street price for crack" yields this link, which puts forth a figure of anywhere from $3 to $50 per rock, with prices generally being from $10 to $20. As bad as crack is, I figure there'd be a lot more of them dropping dead if they were smoking that much of it every day.
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