Abstract
This paper explores the historical background and evolvement of the well-known drug known as crack cocaine. The questions of how the drug was created, distributed, and developed extreme popularity within the United States is at hand and is to be answered by the author of this research paper.
How did crack cocaine develop into an epidemic?
Crack is a chemically altered form of the drug cocaine, a chemical in the class of alkaloids and is a stimulant derived from the leaves within the coca plant. Traveling from South America to South Central, Los Angeles, California it became one of the most highly additive and destructive drugs on the globe, becoming extremely popular in the United States and many other countries around the world in the 1980s. Small doses of it are smoked into the lungs and delivered quickly to the brain, creating a short high, followed by a multitude of side-affects including but not limited to: tiredness, depression, panic, anxiety, and brain damage. The drug first came into use in South Central, LA. It spread out through the entire country. It led to an addiction epidemic (disease affecting many people), which disproportionately hurt urban communities and led to huge increases in crime.
Crack became an infamous drug within the 1980’s “yuppie” culture. The culture revolved around young college-educated adults who have affluent jobs and reside in the city.
According to the US Drug Enforcement Agency, by the late 1970s there was a huge glut of cocaine powder being shipped into the United States. This caused the price of the drug to drop by as much as 80%. Faced with dropping prices for their illegal product, drug dealers converted the powder to “crack,” a solid form of cocaine that could be smoked. The simplicity of making crack was a major factor that led to crystallized cocaine becoming more widespread in the 1980s. Crack provided an intense high very quickly for $5 or $10. For sellers, crack was a lucrative...