Anecdotally at least, the history of
Crack is a bit like this:
Cocaine was trafficked from South America by a group of
Yaqui Native Americans who started to cut the cocaine with
cheaper substances. In order to gauge how strong the drug
really was, the purchasers started washing the cocaine in
ether and water (the cocaine alkaloid would dissolve in the
ether) siphoning the ether and allowing it to evaporate to
leave almost pure powder cocaine. By measuring the
difference in weight between the original powder and what
was left, the purity of the drug could be estimated. This
also turned the acidic cocaine hydrochloride salt into a
smokeable alkaline base. There are several disadvantages to
Freebase Cocaine: it isn't stable and quickly looses its
potency; and it involves volatile chemicals such as ether
which are highly flammable.
In the mid-1970's producers moved away
from the use of ammonia and ether towards the less dangerous
use of bicarbonate of soda, which when mixed with cocaine
powder and heated results in a relatively pure, anhydrous
cocaine base. This base is quite stable and can easily be
mass produced and sold as crack rather than the end using
having to do it.
