Addictive Disorders

Crack

Crack is the street name given to the freebase form of cocaine that has been processed from the powdered cocaine hydrochloride form to a smokable substance. The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound heard when the mixture is smoked. Crack cocaine is processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water, and heated to remove the hydrochloride.

Because crack is smoked, the user experiences a high in less than 10 seconds. This rather immediate and euphoric effect is one of the reasons that crack became enormously popular in the mid 1980s. Another reason is that crack is inexpensive both to produce and to buy.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2002, February 21). NIDA Research Report - Cocaine Abuse and Addiction (PHD813, NIH Publication No. 99-4342) Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved October 03, 2002 from the World Wide Web.

Statistics

In 2000, an estimated 1.2 million Americans were current cocaine users. This represents 0.5 percent of the population aged 12 and older. The estimated number of current crack users in 2000 is 265,000.