Crack 101 (for ACS):
Because of the dangers of using ether to produce pure freebase cocaine, cocaine producers began to omit the step of removing the freebase cocaine precipitate from the ammonia mixture. Typically, filtration processes are also omitted. The end result of this process is that the cut, in addition to the ammonium salt (NH4Cl), remains in the freebase cocaine after the mixture is evaporated. The “rock” which is thus formed also contains a small amount of water. When the rock is heated this water boils, making a crackling sound (hence the name “crack”). Baking soda is now most often used as a base rather than ammonia for reasons of lowered stench and toxicity; however, any weak base can be used to make crack cocaine. Strong bases, such as sodium hydroxide, tend to hydrolyze some of the cocaine into useless ecgonine.
The net reaction when using baking soda (also called sodium bicarbonate, with a chemical formula of NaHCO3) is:
CocH+ + Cl- + NaHCO3 → Coc + H2O + CO2 + NaCl
Crack is unique because it offers a strong cocaine experience in small, low-priced packages. In the United States, crack cocaine is often sold in small, inexpensive dosage units frequently known as “nickels” or “nickel rocks” (referring to the price of $5.00), and also “dimes” or “dime rocks” ($10.00) and sometimes as “twenties” or “solids”, and “forties”. The quantity provided by such a purchase varies depending upon many factors, such as local availability, which is affected by geographic location. A twenty may yield a quarter gram or half gram on average, yielding 30 minutes to an hour of effect if hits are taken every few minutes. After the $20 or $40 mark, crack and powder cocaine are sold in grams or fractions of ounces. Many inner-city addicts with a regular dealer will “work a corner”, taking money from anyone who wants crack, making a buy from the dealer, then delivering part of the product while keeping some for themselves. Street names for crack include “Devil’s dandruff”, “Devilsmoke”, “Devil drug”, “hard”, “dope”, “work”, “smoke”, “yoda”, “yayo”, “yay”, “bones”, “yola”, “matter”, and “food”; but most commonly, it is simply called “rock”. Crack cocaine was extremely popular in the mid- and late 1980s, especially in inner cities, although its popularity declined through the 1990s. In 1998, Gary Webb's book Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion linked the “crack explosion” to the CIA funding of the anti-communism Contras fighting against sandinistas in Nicaragua.