CRACK NOUN (DRUGS)

In the slang of drug users, a highly addictive, crystalline form of cocaine made by heating a mixture of it with baking powder and water until it is hard, and breaking it into small pieces which are burnt and smoked for their stimulating effect. Etymology: The name arises from the fact that the hard-baked substance has to be cracked into small pieces for use, as well as the cracking sound the pieces make when smoked. History and Usage: The substance itself first came to the attention of US drug enforcement agencies in 1983, but at that time was generally known on the streets as rock or freebase. The name crack appeared during 1985 and by 1986 had become established as the usual term, both among drug users and by the authorities; since 1988, the fuller term crack cocaine has tended to replace crack alone in official use. Crack's appearance on the US drug market coincided with a marked rise in violent crime, testifying to its potency and addictiveness, with users prepared to go to almost any lengths to get more. The word crack quickly became the basis for compounds, notably crackhead (in drugs slang, a user of crack) and crack house (a house where crack is prepared or from which it is sold). The phrasal verb crack (it) up has also acquired the specialized meaning in drugs slang of smoking crack. In New York and Los Angeles drug dealers have opened up drug galleries, called 'crack houses'. San Francisco Chronicle 6 Dec. 1985, p. 3 'Crack it up, crack it up,' the drug dealers murmur from the leafy parks of the suburbs to New York City's meanest streets. Time 4 Aug. 1986, p. 27 Charlie and two fellow 'crackheads' took me to a vast concrete housing estate in South London where crack is on sale for between ø20 and ø25 a deal. Observer 24 July 1988, p. 15 Some crack users [in Washington DC], unable to work for a living, will go out with a lead pipe or a bat and hit defenceless women. Japan Times 19 May 1989, p. 20 See also wack