I watched a show on the sundance channel called Drug Years and it talks about drugs in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Has anyone watched this show?

Yeah, I watched it. I also lived it as a resident of an area where it hit hard.

Wow! How was it? What city did you live in?

I watched a show on the sundance channel called Drug Years and it talks about drugs in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Has anyone watched this show?



I watched that same series on VH1 last week.

I have heard that cocaine was big during the '80's, but I did not know about crack being popular.

I have heard that cocaine was big during the '80's, but I did not know about crack being popular.



Crack was cheaper than cocaine and provided the user with a quicker high.  Back in the late 70s, cocaine was very expensive to get, so only the very wealthy could get their hands on it; but in the 80s, the demand for the drug was so high, a new form of it was created and it was cheaper and stronger.

I didn't really hear it called "crack" in the media until the late 1980s or early 1990s, however. Before that it was known as "freebasing" or "freebase cocaine".

Wow! How was it? What city did you live in?


Philadelphia. It seemed like just overnight what seemed just a little rough became chaotic.


I didn't really hear it called "crack" in the media until the late 1980s or early 1990s, however. Before that it was known as "freebasing" or "freebase cocaine".


It was called this about 1985. Remember the media as always was late with "urban" issues until suburban residents became involved.

I watched a show on the sundance channel called Drug Years and it talks about drugs in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Has anyone watched this show?


Never saw it. But I remember late 80's and even early 90's, crack viles with the diff color tops would be all over the street. My mom told me they weren't from candies.

CRACK AND FREEBASE COCAINE ARE NOT ONE IN THE SAME.

I don't understand all the chemical processes, but powder cocaine is the salt-form, thus water soluble. Crack cocaine is freebase, which simply means it is the standalone form of the alkaloid, and not water soluble. Powder cocaine has too high a vaporizing temperature for efficient smoking. The base of the cocaine has a much lower vaporizing point thus produces a good smoke at cigarette ighter flame temp.  You would think the base form being "pure" would mean it would cost more money. However, it does not stay pure.
Whereas "pure" freebase cocaine is precipitated using ether, crack synthesis skips the precipitation step, and thus the necessity of extremely flammable ether.* Crack not volitile like freebase, but it is not pure. The freebase alkoloid cleaves to a chemical base in crack form. Ammonium salt was used as a base by freebase producers because the Ammonia was filtered away to make the freebase pure. Crack can be produced by leaving the ammonia base as is. However, the ammonia is highly caustic, thus crack producers started using baking soda instead. The end product is "rock cocaine," a blend of base (be it ammonia salt, baking soda, or another weak base) and cocaine. The rock retains a small amount water which evaporates when heated, thus producing a cracking sound as the chemicals break apart, hence the name "crack."
(please correct me here, I'm sure I got some of this screwy!)

The advantage of crack cocaine is the producer can get a much greater saleable amount of drug than with producing pure powder form. The crack dealer can sell in denominations of $5.00 to $40.00, rather than $80.00+ with powder. Why not just make fewer sales of powder cocaine for higher amounts. Ah, here is the law of supply and demand. In the tony suburbs your yuppie neighbors can afford to pay $200.00 for powder and party on the weekend. In poor neighborhoods it's harder for folks to come up with $200.00 cash. Five dollars?  no prob. Here's the rub. You only get one "high" for your five bucks, or five "highs" for your $25.00.

Enter Satan. That first crack high is better than anything you ever had in your life, and it's all over in twenty minutes. Then you want another. The second one isn't quite as good and doesn't last quite as long. It's the law of diminishing returns. The crack user becomes a crack addict in just a day. He or she chases relentlessly that first high never to catch it again. In less than a week, the crack addict will do anything--I mean anything--to get another $5.00...and then another, and then another, and so on.
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/08/sagrin.gif

*The late Richard Pryor was freebasing cocaine when the the ether vapors combusted and engulfed him in flames!

WHAT WE SAW ON TV IN THE '80S.
Crack dealers were ruthless and crack addicts were desperate. Socially speaking, this was just as explosive a combination as ether and oxygen. Poor urban neighborhoods went from being areas of nervous deprivation to being hell on earth. The "crack epidemic" stoked violent crime syndicates and produced hordes of zombified addicts covered with burns from glass pipes, sick with contagious diseases from septic living conditions, and from prostituting themselves to get more crack. Children of addicts were left hungry and neglected while muggings, burglary, armed robbery, and larceny skyrocketed.

RUMORS WE HEARD: C.I.A. -- Cocaine Import Agency.
We asked where all this cocaine was coming from. You can't grow coca plants in a vacant lot in Compton. Who was flying all this cocaine from Colombia? We knew it was't African American teens from Nickerson Gardens. This theory became very controversial and remains so. I will only link to it as it leads to subjects too political for this side of the board:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_and_Contra's_cocaine_trafficking_in_the_US

Crack cocaine a form of cocaine base, is derived from powder cocaine. Unlike the processing of freebase cocaine converting powder cocaine into crack cocaine does not involve any flammable solvents. The powder cocaine is simply dissolved in a solution of sodium bicarbonate and water.
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Harry
http://www.crackcocaineaddictiontreatment.com

I wouldn't put these 2 drugs into a "Popular' category as their addictive properties are the Hook that traps it's user!.I've seen downtown areas where 100s of women working the streets earn about a grand a night , but by morning have just a couple bucks to take home.cause they spent it all on crack........How long do you think a body can take that kind of abuse!?
Somethings got to give!!

Like a mouse trapped in a pail of water....One can only tread water for so long!


Rule of thumb:

If its organic.Don't panic
If its chemical..Welcome to Hell

Like buddy used to say:
"Man made booze.....God made weed
Who do you trust!