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- title = Crack
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- Cocaine Base (Crack Cocaine)
-
- As mentioned above, powder cocaine cannot be smoked unless chemically
- altered using the dangerous freebasing technique. Late summer of 1985, New
- York City drug dealers put an end to the need for freebasing powder cocaine.
- These same drug entrepreneurs would revolutionize the sale of cocaine and
- bring terror to the streets of America.
-
- The exact inventor of crack cocaine is unknown, but the lasting effects of
- their discovery is well documented. The benefits of cocaine base (crack) for
- the drug dealers have only been surpassed by the problems it has created for
- society in general. In many ways crack is the perfect drug. As we will see,
- crack cocaine was a stroke of marketing genius.
-
- Powder cocaine is messy and hard to handle, crack however is a hard [Image]
- rock-like substance easy to handle and conceal. Powder cocaine has
- to be inhaled or injected. Inhaling cocaine creates a variety of sinus and
- nasal problems. Inhaling also takes longer for the drug to take affect.
- Injecting powder cocaine to get a better and faster high became very
- unpopular with advent of the A.I.D.S. crisis. Powder cocaine is frequently
- cut or mixed with a variety of substances in order to raise profit mar- gins
- of drug dealers. This has made purchasing powder cocaine more hazardous for
- the drug abuser as they cannot be sure of the content of the drug they are
- buying. Finally, freebasing was thought too dangerous a prospect for most
- cocaine users. Crack cocaine overcame all these detractors to cocaine usage.
-
- Crack cocaine is easily manufactured from powder cocaine without dangerous
- solvents, using common household ingredients. Crack is smokeable, creating
- an intense and immediate high. There is no need for needles, nor is there
- the damage to nasal and sinus passages associated with "snorting" cocaine.
-
- Crack is nearly pure cocaine. Dosages of crack are smaller, meaning there is
- no need for diluting the cocaine with various substances. Because of the
- smaller dosages, crack is more profitable for the dealer. The smaller dosage
- units also mean it is cheaper for the user to purchase a small amount and
- get high. The cheaper price per unit also makes it available to broader
- market. But there is a greater asset crack provides for the dealer. Crack
- cocaine can be instantly addictive.
-
- The symptoms of abuse are consistent to those of powder cocaine, except
- crack provides a more intense high. Heavy perspiration and ear ringing are
- also not uncommon when smoking crack. Again, the intense addictive
- properties of crack often cause the abuser to go on binges during which they
- continuously smoke crack until they drop from fatigue or run out of money to
- purchase more.
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- Last Modified : January 23, 1996
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