Overview
“Crack cocaine” refers to a version of cocaine that’s vaporized and smoked by heating up “rocks,” as opposed to chewing coca leaves as South American peoples had for thousands of years or snorting powder cocaine.
History and Etymology
While powder cocaine was treated as a medical solution in the late 19th century and emerged as a “classy” luxury drug in the late 20th century, crack cocaine was associated with communities of color in impoverished city districts as a distinct threat within the context of the War on Drugs. In reality, any variant of cocaine is highly addictive and dangerous, and the disparities found in criminal justice systems were motivated by sociopolitical agendas that capitalized on public hysteria. The “crack” in “crack cocaine” comes from the crackling sound heard when heating the rocks before smoking the substance for a high.