FREEBASE

noun and verb Also written free base or free-base (Drugs) noun: A purified form of cocaine made by heating it with ether, and taken (illegally) by inhaling the fumes or smoking the residue. intransitive or transitive verb: To make a freebase of cocaine or smoke it as a drug; to smoke (freebase). Also as a verbal noun freebasing; agent noun freebaser. Etymology: Formed by compounding; the base, or most important ingredient in cocaine, is freed by the process of heating. History and Usage: The term has been in use in the drugs subculture since the seventies (there are reports of people who claim to have been using freebase since 1978, for example), but it was not taken up by the media until 1980, when American comedian Richard Pryor was badly burned while freebasing. It then became clear that freebase was a favourite form of cocaine among the Hollywood set, since smoking it was more congenial than 'snorting' cocaine. The cheaper crystalline cocaine, crack, was at first also known as freebase. The noun and verb appeared simultaneously in printed sources, but it is likely that the noun preceded the verb in colloquial use. A police lieutenant said Mr. Pryor had told a doctor the accident happened while he was trying to make 'free base', a cocaine derivative produced with the help of ether. New York Times 15 June 1980, p. 15 She recalled that her seven-year-old daughter used to follow her around the house with a deodorant spray because she could not stand the smell of freebasing. Daily Telegraph 30 June 1981, p. 15 A society drugs scandal is introduced as the freebasers start brewing up in their alembics. Times Literary Supplement 14 Aug. 1987, p. 872