Crack cocaine is a highly addictive and powerful stimulant that is derived from powdered cocaine using a simple conversion process. Crack emerged as a drug of abuse in the mid-1980s. It is abused because it produces an immediate high and because it is easy and inexpensive to produce–rendering it readily available and affordable.

Crack is produced by dissolving powdered cocaine in a mixture of water and ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). The mixture is boiled until a solid substance forms. The solid is removed from the liquid, dried, and then broken into the chunks (rocks) that are sold as crack cocaine.

Crack cocaine is typically smoked using a glass pipe. The drug is broken into small rocks and then placed into a pipe or other device to be smoked. Because the high only lasts a few solid minutes, people who smoke crack will constantly be smoking more and more in order to feel the continued effects of the drug.

Unfortunately, crack is often mixed with fillers or other substances that can make smoking the drug even more dangerous than the user believes. There is no way to know how much cocaine is being used, how potent the crack is or what the potential side effects or repercussions of using the drug will be which can leave the user open to a wide array of potential side-effects and problems.