10/19/07

“Although most cocaine in the USA is snorted intranasally, smoking crack cocaine has become widely publicized. The imported hydrochloride salt is converted to a more volatile form, usually by adding sodium bicarbonate, water, and heat. The converted material is combusted, and the resultant smoke inhaled. Onset of effect is quicker, and intensity of the ‘high’ is magnified. Use of crack by the urban poor and the criminal market for crack have become the most feared problems of drug abuse. Despite frequent predictions, crack use has not expanded to the suburbs or the urban middle class. Its continued use still occurs primarily in poor Americans.”