What does it look like?

How is crack abused?

Who uses crack?

Crack typically is available as rocks.

Crack rocks are white (or off-white) and 

vary in size and shape.

Crack is nearly always smoked. 

Smoking crack cocaine delivers large 

quantities of the drug to the lungs, 

producing an immediate and intense 

euphoric effect.

Individuals of all ages use crack 

cocaine—data reported in the National 

Household Survey on Drug Abuse 

indicate that an estimated 6,222,000 

U.S. residents aged 12 and older used 

crack at least once in their lifetime. The 

survey also revealed that hundreds of 

thousands of teenagers and young 

adults use crack cocaine—150,000 

individuals aged 12 to 17 and 

1,003,000 individuals aged 18 to 25 

used the drug at least once.

Crack cocaine use among high school 

students is a particular problem. Nearly 

4 percent of high school seniors in the 

United States used the drug at least 

once in their lifetime, and more than 

1 percent used the drug in the past 

month, according to the University of 

Michigan’s Monitoring the Future 

Survey.

What is crack cocaine?

How is it produced?

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.

What are the risks?

Cocaine, in any form, is a powerfully 

addictive drug, and addiction seems to 

develop more quickly when the drug is 

smoked—as crack is—than snorted—as 

powdered cocaine typically is.

In addition to the usual risks associated with cocaine use (constricted 

blood vessels; increased temperature, 

heart rate, and blood pressure; and 

risk of cardiac arrest and seizure), 

crack users may experience acute 

respiratory problems, including coughing, shortness of breath, and lung 

trauma and bleeding. Crack cocaine 

smoking also can cause aggressive and 

paranoid behavior.

What does it look like?

How is crack abused?

Who uses crack?

Crack typically is available as rocks.

Crack rocks are white (or off-white) and 

vary in size and shape.

Crack is nearly always smoked. 

Smoking crack cocaine delivers large 

quantities of the drug to the lungs, 

producing an immediate and intense 

euphoric effect.

Individuals of all ages use crack 

cocaine—data reported in the National 

Household Survey on Drug Abuse 

indicate that an estimated 6,222,000 

U.S. residents aged 12 and older used 

crack at least once in their lifetime. The 

survey also revealed that hundreds of 

thousands of teenagers and young 

adults use crack cocaine—150,000 

individuals aged 12 to 17 and 

1,003,000 individuals aged 18 to 25 

used the drug at least once.

Crack cocaine use among high school 

students is a particular problem. Nearly 

4 percent of high school seniors in the 

United States used the drug at least 

once in their lifetime, and more than 

1 percent used the drug in the past 

month, according to the University of 

Michigan’s Monitoring the Future 

Survey.

What is crack cocaine?

How is it produced?

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.

What are the risks?

Cocaine, in any form, is a powerfully 

addictive drug, and addiction seems to 

develop more quickly when the drug is 

smoked—as crack is—than snorted—as 

powdered cocaine typically is.

In addition to the usual risks associated with cocaine use (constricted 

blood vessels; increased temperature, 

heart rate, and blood pressure; and 

risk of cardiac arrest and seizure), 

crack users may experience acute 

respiratory problems, including coughing, shortness of breath, and lung 

trauma and bleeding. Crack cocaine 

smoking also can cause aggressive and 

paranoid behavior.

24-7

Badrock

Beat

Candy

Chemical

Cloud

Cookies

Crumbs

Crunch & munch

Devil drug

Dice

Electric kool-aid

Fat bags

French fries

Glo

Gravel

Grit

Hail

Hard ball

Hard rock

Hotcakes

Ice cube

Jelly beans

Nuggets

Paste

Piece

Prime time

Product

Raw

Rock(s)

Scrabble

Sleet

Snow coke

Tornado

Troop

Street Terms for Crack Cocaine

NDIC. Courtesy of City of Johnstown (PA) Police Department
DEA

Crack

Cocaine

Crack

Cocaine

Fast Facts

Crack

www.usdoj.gov/ndic

Other products of interest:

For more information on illicit drugs 

check out our web site at:

www.usdoj.gov/ndic 

Call 814-532-4541 

to request NDIC products

, Huffing—The Abuse of Inhalants

, Prescription Drug Abuse and Youth

, Drugs,Youth, and the Internet

National Drug Intelligence Center

319 Washington Street, 5th Floor

Johnstown, PA 15901-1622

Telephone: 814-532-4601

FAX: 814-532-4690

NDIC Washington Liaison Office

8201 Greensboro Drive, Suite 1001

McLean, VA 22102-3840

Telephone: 703-556-8970

FAX: 703-556-7807

NDIC publications are available on the following web sites:

ADNET http://ndicosa

LEO home.leo.gov/lesig/ndic

RISS ndic.riss.net

INTERNET www.usdoj.gov/ndic

Is crack cocaine illegal?

Yes, crack cocaine is illegal. 

Crack cocaine is a Schedule II 

substance under the Controlled 

Substances Act. Schedule II drugs, 

which include PCP and methamphetamine, have a high potential 

for abuse. Abuse of these drugs 

may lead to severe psychological or 

physical dependence.

Background photo © John Foxx Images

Check out Fast Facts on:

, Crystal methamphetamine

, GHB and analogs

, Heroin

, Inhalants

, Jimsonweed

, Ketamine

, Khat

, LSD

, Marijuana

, MDMA

, Methamphetamine

, PCP

, Powdered cocaine

, Prescription drugs

, Yaba NDIC Product No. 2003-L0559-005

National Drug Intelligence Center

a component of the 

U.S. Department of Justice

051503

Cover photo: NDIC. Courtesy of City of Johnstown (PA) Police Department

Questions 

and 

Answers