THE HISTORY OF CRACK COCAINE

In the middle and late eighties, Crack cocaine was extremely popular in what was called as Crack Epidemic, particularly in interior cities. This popularity though declined through the 1990s in the USA. Major anti-drug campaigns were launched in the U.S.

in trying to minimize its popularity. The most in rage was a range of ads with the saying "The Thrill can kill". In spite of this, a boost in popularity in Canada has been observed recently, where it is expected that the drug has assumed multi-billion dollar 'industry' proportions.

Though it consists of the similar energetic drug as powder cocaine, in United States, crack cocaine is known as a drug mainly for the consumption of inner-city poor; the typical "crack head" is poor, urban, and homeless at times. Insufflated powder cocaine has a related glamour credited to its popularity amongst upper and middle class whites (like entertainers and musicians), crack is known as the skid row drugs of desperados and squalor. U.S. federal trafficking penalties are much more harsh towards crack as compared to that of powder cocaine. Usually a possession of five grams of crack (or over 500 grams of powder) guarantees a minimum sentence of five years of imprisonment in the US jails.