Crack Facts & Figures

Overview

Contents
	Overview
	Extent of Use
	Health Effects
	Treatment
	Arrests & Sentencing
	Production & Trafficking
	Legislation
	Street Terms
	Other Links
	Sources

Pure cocaine was first used in the 1880s as a local anesthetic in eye, nose, and throat surgeries because of its ability to provide anesthesia as well as to constrict blood vessels and limit bleeding. Many of its therapeutic applications are now obsolete due to the development of safer drugs.1

Approximately 100 years after cocaine entered into use, a new variation of the substance emerged. This substance, crack, became enormously popular in the mid-1980s due in part to its almost immediate high and the fact that it is inexpensive to produce and buy.2

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug. The powdered, hydrochloride salt form of the drug can be snorted or dissolved in water and injected. Crack is cocaine that has not been neutralized by an acid to make the hydrochlorida salt. This form of cocaine comes in a rock crystal that can be heated and its vapors smoked. The term "crack" comes from the crackling sound made when it is heated.3

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Extent of Use

According to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 8.6 million Americans aged 12 or older reported trying crack cocaine at least once during their lifetimes, representing 3.5% of the population aged 12 or older. Additional 2007 NSDUH data indicate that approximately 1.5 million (0.6%) reported past year crack cocaine use and 610,000 (0.2%) reported past month crack cocaine use.4

Results of the 2008 Monitoring the Future survey indicate that 2.1% of eighth graders, 2.3% of tenth graders, and 3.2% of twelfth graders reported lifetime use of crack cocaine. In 2006, these percentages were 2.3%, 2.2%, and 3.5%, respectively.5

Percent of Students Reporting Crack Cocaine Use, 2007–2008

	8th Grade		10th Grade		12th Grade
	2007	2008	2007	2008	2007	2008
Past month	0.6%	0.5%	057%	0.5%	0.9%	0.8%
Past year	1.3	1.1	1.3	1.3	1.9	1.6
Lifetime	2.1	2.0	2.3	2.0	3.2	2.8

Approximately 67.9% of eighth graders, 76.5% of tenth graders, and 65.2% of twelfth graders surveyed in 2008 reported that taking crack cocaine occasionally was a "great risk."6

Percent of Students Reporting Risk of Using Crack Cocaine, 2008

Say "great risk" to:	8th Grade	10th Grade	12th Grade
Try crack once/twice	47.1%	56.5%	47.5%
Take crack occasionally	67.9	76.5	65.2

Approximately 1.3% of college students and 3.9% of young adults (ages 19-28) surveyed in 2007 reported lifetime use of crack cocaine.7

Percent of College Students/Young Adults Reporting Crack Use, 2006–2007

	College Students		Young Adults
	2006	2007	2006	2007
Past month	<0.05%	0.1%	0.3%	0.3%
Past year	1.0	0.6	1.1	1.0
Lifetime	2.3	1.3	4.4	3.9

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Health Effects

Cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant. Physical effects of cocaine use, including crack use, include constricted blood vessels and increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Users may also experience feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety.8

In addition to the usual risks associated with cocaine use, crack users may experience acute respiratory problems, including coughing, shortness of breath, lung trauma, and bleeding. Crack cocaine smoking also can cause aggressive and paranoid behavior.9

The duration of cocaine's immediate euphoric effects depends upon the route of administration. The faster the absorption, the more intense the high. Also, the faster the absorption, the shorter the duration of action. The high from snorting is relatively slow in onset, and may last 15 to 30 minutes, while that from smoking may last 5 to 10 minutes.10 Smoking crack delivers large quantities of the drug to the lungs, producing effects comparable to intravenous injection. These effects are felt almost immediately after smoking, are very intense, but do not last long.11

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug. A tolerance to the cocaine high may be developed and many addicts report that they fail to achieve as much pleasure as they did from their first cocaine exposure.12

Of an estimated 113 million emergency department (ED) visits in the U.S. during 2006, the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) estimates that 1,742,887 were drug-related. DAWN data indicate that marijuana was involved in 290,563 ED visits.13

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Treatment

From 1997 to 2007, the number of admissions to treatment in which crack was the primary drug of abuse decreased from 174,900 in 1997 to 167,914 in 2007. The average age of those admitted to treatment for crack cocaine during 2007 was 39 years.14

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Arrests & Sentencing

During FY 2004, cocaine was the primary drug involved in Federal drug arrests. There were 12,166 Federal drug arrests for cocaine in FY 2004. The DEA made 7,082 arrests for powder cocaine and 3,921 arrests for crack cocaine during FY 2004.15

During FY 2007, there were 5,477 Federal defendants sentenced for crack cocaine-related charges in U.S. Courts. Approximately 95.8% of these cases involved crack cocaine trafficking. Approximately 0.6% of the crack cocaine cases involved simple possession.16

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Production & Trafficking

Crack is cocaine that has been processed from cocaine hydrochloride to a free base for smoking. Crack cocaine is processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water. It is then heated to remove the hydrochloride producing a form of cocaine that can be smoked.17

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Legislation

Cocaine (all forms) was first Federally-regulated in December 1914 with the passage of the Harrison Act. This Act banned the non-medical use of cocaine; prohibited its importation; imposed the same criminal penalties for cocaine users as for opium, morphine, and heroin users; and required a strict accounting of medical prescriptions for cocaine. As a result of the Harrison Act and the emergence of cheaper, legal substances such as amphetamines, cocaine became scarce in the U.S. However, use began to rise again in the 1960s, prompting Congress to classify it as a Schedule II substance in 1970.18

Schedule II substances have a high potential for abuse, a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States with severe restrictions, and may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.19 While cocaine can currently be administered by a doctor for legitimate medical uses, such as a local anesthetic for some eye, ear, and throat surgeries, there are currently no medical uses for crack cocaine.20

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Street Terms21

Common Terms Associated with Crack

Term		Definition			Term	Definition
Bingers		Crack addicts			Oolies	Marijuana laced with crack
Geeker		Crack user			Rooster	Crack
Jelly beans		Crack			Tornado	Crack
Moonrock		Crack mixed with heroin			Wicky stick	PCP, marijuana, and crack

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Other Links

A Collection of Articles That Address Research on Cocaine
This resource presents links to and full text of National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) research articles concerning cocaine.

Cocaine Abuse and Addiction
This report provides information on powder and crack cocaine abuse, effects, and describes effective treatment.

Cocaine Publications
A listing of powder and crack cocaine-related publications from various sources.

Common Drugs of Abuse: Cocaine
This site provides links to NIDA resources related to crack and cocaine.

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Sources

1 Drug Enforcement Administration, Drugs of Abuse, 2005

2 National Institute on Drug Abuse, Cocaine Abuse and Addiction, November 2004

3 National Institute on Drug Abuse, InfoFacts: Crack and Cocaine, August 2008

4 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings, September 2008

5 National Institute on Drug Abuse and University of Michigan, 2008 Monitoring the Future Study Drug Data Tables, December 2008

6 Ibid.

7 National Institute on Drug Abuse, Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975–2007. Volume II: College Students & Adults Ages 19–45 (PDF), 2008

8 National Institute on Drug Abuse, InfoFacts: Crack and Cocaine, August 2008

9 National Drug Intelligence Center, Crack Cocaine Fast Facts (PDF), April 2003

10 National Institute on Drug Abuse, Cocaine: Abuse and Addiction, November 2004

11 National Drug Intelligence Center, Crack Cocaine Fast Facts (PDF), April 2003

12 National Institute on Drug Abuse, InfoFacts: Crack and Cocaine, August 2008

13 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Drug Abuse Warning Network, 2006: National Estimates of Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits (PDF), August 2008

14 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) Highlights—2007, February 2009

15 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, 2004, December 2006

16 United States Sentencing Commission, 2007 Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics, 2008

17 National Institute on Drug Abuse, InfoFacts: Crack and Cocaine, August 2008

18 U.S. Department of Justice, CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy, Appendix C

19 Drug Enforcement Administration, Drugs of Abuse, 2005

20 National Institute on Drug Abuse, Cocaine: Abuse and Addiction (PDF), November 2004

21 Office of National Drug Control Policy, Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse, Street Terms: Drugs and the Drug Trade
        Crack cocaine section

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