Crack Cocaine Quick Facts

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Cocaine and Crack

Crack Cocaine Quick Facts

What is Crack Cocaine?

dea crack1.jpg Crack Cocaine is a highly addictive and powerful Stimulant that is derived from powdered cocaine using a simple conversion process. Crack emerged as a Drug of abuse in the mid-1980s. It is abused because it produces an immediate high and because it is easy and inexpensive to produce--rendering it readily available and affordable.

How is it produced?

Crack is produced by dissolving powdered cocaine in a mixture of water and ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). The mixture is boiled until a solid substance forms. The solid is removed from the liquid, dried, and then broken into the chunks (rocks) that are sold as crack cocaine.

What does it look like?

dea crack 2.jpg Crack typically is available as rocks. Crack rocks are white (or off-white) and vary in size and shape.

How is crack abused?

Crack is nearly always smoked. Smoking crack cocaine delivers large quantities of the drug to the lungs, producing an immediate and intense euphoric effect.

Who uses crack?

Individuals of all ages use crack cocaine--data reported in the National Household Survey on Drug abuse indicate that an estimated 6,222,000 U.S. residents aged 12 and older used crack at least once in their lifetime. The survey also revealed that hundreds of thousands of teenagers and young adults use crack cocaine--150,000 individuals aged 12 to 17 and 1,003,000 individuals aged 18 to 25 used the drug at least once.

Crack cocaine use among high school students is a particular problem. Nearly 4 percent of high school seniors in the United States used the drug at least once in their lifetime, and more than 1 percent used the drug in the past month, according to the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Survey.

What are the risks?

Cocaine, in any form, is a powerfully addictive drug, and Addiction seems to develop more quickly when the drug is smoked--as crack is--than snorted--as powdered cocaine typically is.

In addition to the usual risks associated with cocaine use (constricted blood vessels; increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure; and risk of cardiac arrest and seizure), crack users may experience acute respiratory problems, including coughing, shortness of breath, and lung trauma and bleeding. Crack cocaine smoking also can cause aggressive and paranoid behavior.

Is crack cocaine illegal? What is it called?

Street Terms for Crack Cocaine:

24-7, Badrock, Beat, Candy, Chemical, Cloud, Cookies, Crumbs, Crunch & munch, Devil drug, Dice, Electric kool-aid, Fat bags, French fries, Glo, Gravel, Grit Hail, Hard ball, Hard rock, Hotcakes, Ice cube, Jelly beans, Nuggets, Paste Piece, Prime time, Product, Raw, Rock(s), Scrabble, Sleet, Snow coke, Tornado, Troop

Is crack cocaine illegal?

Yes, crack cocaine is illegal. Crack cocaine is a Schedule II substance under the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule II drugs, which include PCP and Methamphetamine, have a high potential for abuse. Abuse of these drugs may lead to severe psychological or Physical dependence.

Toll Free: 888-9NO-DRUGS or 888-966-3784

Source: National Drug Intelligence Center
Image Source: DEA

Definitions of Terms Used

Term	Description
Addiction	Strong physiological, emotional and/or psychological dependence on a substance such as alcohol or drugs that has progressed beyond voluntary control. For more on addiction see the section Addiction Information in this website.
Cocaine	A highly addictive stimulant drug derived from the cocoa plant that produces feelings of euphoria. Also see Crack.
Crack Cocaine	A chemically altered form of cocaine that is smoked.
Drug	Any substance, other than food, that changes the function or structure of the body or mind when ingested. Drugs essentially are poisons. The degree they are taken determines the effect. A small amount acts as a stimulant. A greater amount acts as a sedative. A larger amount acts as a poison and can kill one dead. This is true of any drug. Each has a different amount at which it gives those results.
Drug abuse	The use of illegal drugs or the inappropriate use of legal drugs. The repeated use of drugs to produce pleasure, to alleviate stress, or to alter or avoid reality - or all three.
Methamphetamine	A commonly abused, potent stimulant drug that is part of a larger family of amphetamines.
PCP	Phencyclidine (PCP): Originally developed as an anesthetic, PCP may act as an hallucinogen, stimulant, or sedative.
Physical dependence	An adaptive physiological state that occurs with regular drug use and results in a withdrawal syndrome when drug use is stopped; usually occurs with tolerance.
Stimulant	A class of drugs that elevates mood, increases feelings of well-being, and increases energy and alertness. These drugs produce euphoria and are powerfully rewarding. Stimulants include cocaine, Methamphetamine, and methylphenidate (Ritalin).