Table 2.

Narrative themes from qualitative interviews.

Theme	Speaker	Narrative	Substance Use History
Quit or reduced cocaine use
Tired of Using	56-year-old woman with 20-year-history of crack and powder cocaine use	I was just tired, just tired of waking up looking in my pocket, was nothing but lint: waking sometimes, outside on the street 'cause I had nowhere to sleep. . . . Having to sell your body to get that shit [cocaine]. I just got tired of it and couldn't do that shit no more.	Quit for more than two years
	25-year-old man with history of snorting power cocaine	I was having nose bleeds and stuff. I'd just be sitting there, I could be sitting at the dinner table and my nose would start bleeding. That's kind of embarrassing. [When asked if he was concerned about his health, he replied]. Yeah, I still think about that to this day. I don't want to die of a heart attack, 'cause I mean using cocaine, I don't want to be messed up in the head when I get old. . . 'Cause I know it's causing damage to my brain.	Cyclic pattern of reducing use and quitting
	51-year-old man with 25-year-history of power and crack cocaine use	I can say that one of the things that helped me this last couple of months was the quality of the cocaine is just bad. That was another reason why I stopped. . . . Me being broke and the quality of the cocaine was just terrible. It wasn't getting me high no more. It was cut too bad. It was like it was half cocaine and half something else, and I just got tired of wasting my money on nothing.	Quit because of poor quality of cocaine
Social role expectations	A 32-year-old woman with 10-year history of powder cocaine use	The only reason I did cut down was for the kids and those were my main reasons. I have 4 boys and 1 girl, and the only times I didn't get high was when I was pregnant with them. . . . Then my mom always having to take my kids because I was in trouble or something was going on and happening. It was just like I really need to cut down because if I don't I keep getting myself into these troubling situations that one day I'm not going to be able to get myself out of. And maybe will never see my kids again.	Quit snorting cocaine
	23-year-old woman with history of powder cocaine use	I wouldn't want to hurt my Momma to know that I do the cocaine. That would kill her, not just hurt my family period.	Reduced use
	46-year-old woman with history of snorting powder cocaine and smoking crack cocaine	I did stop for like, I want to say, a couple of weeks, 'cause my daughter went to jail. I had my grandson.	Quit for a couple of weeks to fulfill obligations as primary caregiver
	29-year-old man with history of smoking crack cocaine	I cut it back one [time] she wasn't going to continue to put up with it. 'Be with me and our child's on the way'. So I pulled back for her sake . . .	Reduced use to be a better partner and father
	25-year-old man with history of snorting powder cocaine	Every month I got bills. . . So every month I go through a process where I know I can't smoke and snort this much this week or I got to spend money on bills. . . business always comes before pleasure.	Reduced use to be financially responsible
	34-year-old man with history of smoking crack cocaine and snorting powder cocaine	I tried to stop. I tried my hardest because I wanted a job.	Quit for employment purposes
Incarceration	29-year-old man who served sentences in jail and prison	One reason I cut down was I got incarcerated a couple of times. And when you're incarcerated for a year or something like that, it really helps you to pull back on it.	Reduced and stopped use due to incarceration
	43-year-old man who served a nine-month sentence in the county jail and nine-month sentence in prison	The cravings kind of went down because you really don't want to mess with it [cocaine] in the prison because if you get caught that's more time.	Reduced use due to fear
	22-year-old urban woman sentenced to two years in juvenile incarceration for selling cocaine	It [incarceration] made me stop it [using cocaine] at the time. I didn't have no access to it, so I didn't have no other choice but to stop.	Reduced use because had no access to cocaine
	25-year-old man with 27-month prison sentence	I know that cocaine get out of your system in three days. Say, well let me snort this right here and go on and get the high that I need, that I want. And, you know, three days later it's gone out of my system, parole officer never know about it. . . . I'm clean if he [parole officer] asked me to piss in a [cup].	Quit during prison sentence; controlled user during parole