Crack cocaine, often nicknamed "crack" or "rocks", is believed to have been created during the early 1980s. Due to the dangers of using ether to produce pure freebase cocaine, producers began to omit the step of removing the freebase precipitate from the ammonia mixture. Typically, filtration processes are also omitted. The end result is that the cut, in addition to the ammonium salt (NH4Cl), remains in the freebase cocaine after the mixture has evaporated. The “rock” that is thus formed also contains a small amount of water.
Baking soda is now most often used as a base rather than ammonia for reasons of lowered odor and toxicity; however, any weak base can be used to make crack cocaine.When commonly "cooked" the ratio is 1:1 to 2:3 parts cocaine/bicarbonate. This acts as a filler which extends the overall profitability of illicit sales. Crack cocaine may be reprocessed in small quantities with water (users refer to the resultant product as "cookback"). This removes the residual bicarbonate, and any adulterants or cuts that have been used in the previous handling of the cocaine and leaves a relatively pure, anhydrous cocaine base. The net reaction when using sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3, common baking soda) is:
Crack is unique because unlike other forms of cocaine, which tend to be extremely expensive, it comes in small and low-priced packages. In the United States, crack cocaine is often sold in small, inexpensive dosage units frequently known as a “blast“ (equivalent to one hit or a dollar's worth), “nickels”, “nickel rocks”, or “bumps“ (referring to the price of $5.00), and also “dimes”, “dime rocks”, or “boulders“ and sometimes as “twenties”, “dubs“, “doves“, “solids", “slabs“ and “forties.” The quantity provided by such a purchase varies depending upon many factors, such as local availability. A twenty may yield a quarter gram or half gram on average, yielding 30 minutes to an hour of effect if hits are taken every few minutes. After the $20 or $40 mark, crack and powder cocaine are sold in grams or fractions of ounces.
At the intermediate level, crack cocaine is sold either by weight in ounces, referred to by terms such as “eight-ball“ (one-eighth of an ounce) or “quarter“ and “half“ respectively. In the alternate, $20 pieces of crack cocaine are aggregated in units of “fifty pack“ and “hundred pack“, referring to the number of pieces. At this level, the wholesale price is approximately half the street sale price.
Crack cocaine was extremely popular in the mid- and late 1980s in a period known as the crack epidemic, especially in inner cities, though its popularity declined through the 1990s in the United States. There were major anti-drug campaigns launched in the U.S. to try to cull its popularity, the most popular being a series of ads featuring the slogan "The Thrill Can Kill". There has been an increase in popularity within Canada in recent years, where it has been estimated that the drug has become a multi-billion dollar industry.citation needed]
While insufflated powder cocaine has an associated glamour attributed to its popularity among mostly middle and upper class people (as well as musicians and entertainers), crack is perceived as a skid row drug of squalor and desperation.citation needed] The U.S. federal trafficking penalties deal far more harshly towards crack when compared to powdered cocaine. Possession of five grams of crack (or over 500 grams of powder) carries a minimum sentence of five years imprisonment in the US, if convicted in federal court. State court sentencing schemes vary.
There are several competing theories regarding the origins of crack cocaine in the United States. One leading theory is that crack cocaine abuse was influenced by the use of coca paste in South America, particularly in Peru during the 1970’s. A study of coca paste smoking in Peru was conducted by General F. Raul Jeri, M.D in the 1970’s, the contents of which may have influenced cocaine users in the United States, though there is not any direct proof showing the Peruvian coca-paste smoking to be the causal event in American crack consumption and abuse. .
Coca paste is created in a similar manner as crack and freebase cocaine as the cocaine is combined with other ingredients to form a cocaine paste, which is then smoked. According to the study of coca paste smokers in Peru during the 1970s, the cocaine content in coca paste varied from 40% to 91% depending on the sample. In Peru, coca paste was smoked by placing the paste in the end of a cigarette which contained either marijuana or tobacco. The practice was common in social gatherings and was often accompanied by the consumption of alcohol as the effects of alcohol would neutralize some of the negative effects of the coca paste. .
The coca paste epidemic in Peru is similar to the crack epidemic in the United States in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Coca paste is highly addictive and causes severe medical and psychological complications, such as paranoid psychosis and death. Dr. Raul Jeri’s study found that coca paste smoking began with teenagers and spread to university students, young workers and professionals, and then ultimately to middle-aged people. However, most of the individuals who were students quickly became addicts and discontinued their studies or became unemployed. The study found that the addicts became fixated only on acquiring the drug, which caused loss of employment, marital troubles and ultimately criminal activity to either acquire the drug or funds for its purchase. .