Crack cocaine

Two grams of crack cocaine

Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be smoked. Crack offers a short, intense high to smokers. The Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment calls it the most addictive form of cocaine.[1]

Crack cocaine first saw widespread use as a recreational drug in primarily impoverished neighborhoods in New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami in late 1984 and 1985; this rapid increase in use and availability was named the "crack epidemic",[2] which began to wane in the 1990s. The use of another highly addictive stimulant drug, crystal meth, ballooned between 1994 and 2004.[3]

  1. ^ Estroff, Todd Wilk (2008). Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Publishing. pp. 44–45. ISBN 9781585627929. It is the most addictive form of cocaine
  2. ^ Reinarman, Craig; Levine, Harry G. (1997). "Crack in Context: America's Latest Demon Drug". In Reinarman, Craig; Levine, Harry G. (eds.). Crack in America: Demon Drugs and Social Justice. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520202429.
  3. ^ "Methamphetamine: The Drug Epidemic of the 90's; Problems and Solutions". Office of Justice Programs. Archived from the original on 2021-08-08. Retrieved 2021-08-08.