Crack Cocaine addiction is a serious epidemic. Using crack - even one time - can be fatal. People of all ages need to be educated as to the inherent risks associated with specific drug use. Here is NIDA's definition of crack cocaine:

Crack is the street name given to a freebase form of cocaine that has been processed from the powdered cocaine hydrochloride to form 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. Crack cocaine remains a serious problem in the United States. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) estimated the number of current crack users to be about 567,000 in 2002.

Source: NIDA

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