Many have become hopelessly hooked after one dosage. The high lasts for only a few minutes, but it is so intense, some have described it as being greater than a thousand orgasms all at once. Crack is inexpensive, compared to heroin-and it can be produced in the kitchen by teenagers. Cocaine powder is turned into crack by putting it into a mixture that is heated, allowed to harden and then broken into small pieces that are smoked, usually in special glass pipes.
Street kids smoke it out of soda cans with holes punctured near the bottom.
The drug is almost weightless and is sold in tiny vials. Crack is king on the streets. Many get high four or five times an hour. They end up robbing, stealing, prostituting and selling drugs to support their habit. The big high is quickly followed by a frightening low - an emotional depression that can lead to violence and paranoia.