Crack

AKA

white, rocks, stone, wash, freebase

Crack Crack was first made from cocaine in the 1960s by a chemical process called freebasing.
(Drugscope)

What is it?

Crack is a smokeable form of cocaine. It comes in the form of off-white lumps, known as rocks.

It is usually smoked in a pipe or on tin foil. It's called crack because it crackles when it is heated.

How does it make you feel?

Crack is a powerful and swift hit. It takes seconds to come on. It will give an initial rush of spine-tingling exhilaration. It levels out in a couple of minutes to a fairly intense high that lasts about 10-15 minutes.

Some people find the buzz too much while others straight away feel that they must have more.

What are the health effects?

Because it is such an extreme and short-term high, people find themselves taking more and more crack to keep the high.

Coming down is sometimes called crashing. It can leave you feeling really depressed and empty.

If you start using regularly it can eat away at your life. People become obsessed with it and will do anything to get hold of it. The gradual drip, drip of a crack habit will destroy every part of your life.

Otherwise the health effects are the same as they are for cocaine.

The law

Crack is an illegal class A drug. The maximum penalty for possession is 14 years in prison. For supply it's life in prison. You can get an unlimited fine for both.

Written by Kate Roach

Last updated July 2007

Further help and advice

More about crack on TheSite
Release entry on crack

Disclaimer: The BBC cannot be held responsible for the content of external websites

  Previous article  |  Next article