Crack epidemic in the United States

The crack epidemic in the United States was a period of increased crack cocaine use in American cities that lasted from the early 1980s to the early 1990s. Crack cocaine became widely popular at the time because of its affordability in comparison to cocaine in its traditional powder form, strong and fast-acting euphoric effect, and high profitability for drug dealers. In addition to causing a spike in overdoses and other drug-related hospital emergencies, the crack epidemic led to a severe uptick in crime in many inner-city communities, especially those primarily inhabited by Black Americans. In response to the crack epidemic, the federal government, as well as state and local governments, began taking a more aggressive approach to fighting back against drug use and drug-related crime. While such measures may have helped curb the crack epidemic, their discriminatory nature was often just as harmful for Black Americans and other marginalized groups.

Background

Crack cocaine is a more powerful variant of traditional cocaine, a stimulant drug made from the leaves of the South American coca plant. The history of cocaine use can be traced back to the early Indigenous people of South America, who often chewed coca leaves to get an exhilarating high. The Incas even used coca leaves in some of their religious ceremonies. In 1860, a German chemist successfully isolated cocaine from coca leaves. A hydrochloric salt in its powdered form, cocaine was initially embraced for its perceived value as a surgical anesthetic and an ingredient in a wide variety of medications and other consumables. However, when it eventually became clear that cocaine was also a highly addictive and dangerous substance, its use was outlawed in the United States and many other countries throughout the world. This ultimately made cocaine a highly valuable black market drug and transformed cocaine trafficking into one of the world’s most lucrative criminal activities.

Cocaine reached the peak of its popularity among drug users in American cities in the 1970s. It was more expensive than other illicit street drugs but still in high demand. Drug traffickers shipped an ever-increasing amount of cocaine into the United States. By the end of the 1970s, however, supply began to outpace demand and the market quickly became flooded with a glut of excess cocaine. This caused the price of cocaine to drop dramatically, forcing drug dealers to seek an alternative means of boosting their profits. Their solution was crack cocaine.

Crack cocaine is a solid form of cocaine that can be smoked. The term “crack” refers to the distinct crackling sound this type of cocaine makes when it is smoked. When broken into small chunks called “rocks,” crack cocaine could be sold in smaller quantities to a larger number of people at a much lower price than powder cocaine. Crack cocaine also had some “advantages” for users. Because it was smoked instead of snorted, it reached the brain more quickly and therefore produced a faster, more intense high. This also made crack cocaine far more addictive—and dangerous—than traditional cocaine. The short-term effects of smoking crack cocaine include a sense of euphoria, heightened alertness, dilated pupils, decreased appetite, increased heart rate, and intense cravings. The long-term effects include mood changes, irritability, restlessness, depression, anxiety, paranoia, and hallucinations. Because crack cocaine enters the bloodstream and brain so quickly, the risk of overdose is particularly high. Overdoses of crack cocaine often result in convulsions, rapid heart rate, hyperventilation, coma, and death. Still, even with all these added risks, crack cocaine became one of America’s most widely used illicit drugs when it hit the streets in the 1980s.

Overview

Once crack cocaine began to appear in urban communities, its use quickly escalated into an epidemic. Sold for only $5 to $20 per vial, crack cocaine was affordable for users and profitable for dealers. This, combined with its intense effects and particularly addictive nature, led crack cocaine to become one of the most widely used drugs virtually overnight. Between 1982 and 1985 alone, the number of crack cocaine users in the United States increased by an estimated 1.6 million people. Crack cocaine soon became one of America’s most pressing problems.

The introduction of crack cocaine in the United States first started in Miami, Florida. Immigrants arriving in Miami from various Caribbean islands taught local adolescents how to convert traditional powdered cocaine into crack cocaine by dissolving it in a mixture of water and ammonia and boiling it down into a solid form. These young people subsequently used what they learned to begin producing and distributing crack cocaine in Miami and many other major American cities. Around the same time, a major industrial shift led many large manufacturers to move their operations out of such cities—a phenomenon that widened the gap between the different socioeconomic strata within inner-city communities. This made selling crack cocaine an attractive option for desperate people in poor neighborhoods, since even small-scale drug dealers could make thousands of dollars a month by peddling crack cocaine. As the number of crack cocaine dealers increased, competition over the same community of customers eventually led to violence and the rise of dangerous street gangs. This all also contributed to a soaring number of arrests for various drug offenses and violent crimes. By the mid-1980s, crack cocaine trafficking, use, and abuse was a full-fledged epidemic that was ravaging American cities from New York to Los Angeles.

With the situation quickly spiraling out of control, the federal government was eventually forced to step in and do something to address the epidemic. Led by President Ronald Reagan, the government’s response came to be known as the “War on Drugs.” An all-encompassing effort, the War on Drugs was waged through the implementation of such measures as the passage of various federal anti-drug laws, an increase in federal anti-drug funding, and the creation and development of prison and police programs along with the establishment of private anti-drug organizations like the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. Perhaps the most impactful step taken as part of the War on Drugs was the enactment of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. This law established a disparity between the amount of crack and powdered cocaine required to trigger certain criminal penalties at a weight ratio of 100 to 1. It also created a mandatory five-year minimum sentence for possession of crack cocaine. This meant that a person could be sentenced to the same amount of prison time for possessing 1 gram of crack cocaine as he or she would for possessing 100 grams of powdered cocaine.

At its core, the War on Drugs was built on the belief that the implementation of stricter laws and harsher punishments would deter or at least discourage people from using or selling drugs. While there remains some debate as to whether it actually played out that way, the War on Drugs had significantly impacted the epidemic. As stricter laws and other measures took effect, courtrooms in cities across the country were flooded with drug-related criminal cases and a massive number of convicted criminals were sent to prison. In fact, the influx of convicted drug users and dealers at the time led the prison population to double in size.

While the crack cocaine epidemic eventually leveled off in the 1990s, the negative effects of the War on Drugs continued to be felt for years to come. The War on Drugs was disproportionately harmful to Black Americans. The measures adopted as part of the War on Drugs were primarily aimed at small-time crack cocaine dealers who operated in low-income inner-city neighborhoods, which meant that most of the drug dealers and users targeted by law enforcement were Black. A large number of young Black men, often possessing as little as a few grams of crack cocaine, were prosecuted and ultimately imprisoned. By 1989, approximately one in four Black men between the ages of twenty and twenty-nine were incarcerated or on probation or parole. Much of this was a direct result of the strict sentencing guidelines mandated by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. In short, the War on Drugs contributed significantly to America’s growing mass incarceration problem.

The racial and social injustices that arose in the legal system because of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 were not adequately addressed until the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. This landmark law eliminated five-year mandatory minimum sentences and increased the amount of crack cocaine required to trigger a minimum sentence. While it did not completely eliminate the racial discrimination inherent in the prosecution of drug crimes nor offered a wholesale solution to the mass incarceration problem, the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 helped to right some of the wrongs associated with the War on Drugs. Though the First Step Act passed in 2018 allowed the changes of the Fair Sentencing Act to apply retroactively in situations where individuals had already been convicted and sentenced before its enactment, the Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that only those convicted and given a mandatory minimum sentence were eligible under the First Step Act.

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