Crack cocaine, crack or rock is a solid, smokable form of cocaine. It is a freebase form of cocaine that can be made using baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) or sodium hydroxide, in a process to convert cocaine hydrochloride (powder cocaine) into methylbenzoylecgonine (freebase cocaine).
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Crack cocaine, crack or rock is a solid, smokable form of cocaine. It is a freebase form of cocaine that can be made using baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) or sodium hydroxide, in a process to convert cocaine hydrochloride (powder cocaine) into methylbenzoylecgonine (freebase cocaine).
news/local/Officials_warn_of_life- threatening_cocaine_in_area.html reddeer-officials].
Appearance and characteristics
Because crack is not a regulated medicine, the actual content varies widely, including many chemicals from crude processing or added to blow up the size of the cooked crack or volume of the initial powdered cocaine (see below: Chemistry]], on buffing).
news/local/Officials_warn_of_life- threatening_cocaine_in_area.html reddeer-officials]:
In purer forms, crack rocks appear as off-white nuggets with jagged edges, with a slightly higher density than candle wax. Purer forms of crack resemble a hard brittle plastic, in crystalline form (snaps when broken). A crack rock acts as a local anesthetic (see: Cocaine), numbing the tongue or mouth only where directly placed (imitation crack may numb the entire mouth). When smoked, crack can leave the tongue numb where the smoke enters the mouth. Crack rocks typically have a distinctive bitter taste and plant smell; however, other additives can alter the taste or make the rocks appear chalky. Fake crack may be rolled in cocaine powder to simulate the taste and numbing effect. Purer forms of crack will sink in water or melt at the edges when near a flame (crack vaporizes at 90 °C, 194 °F),, but only fake crack will burn or char near a flame.
Chemistry
Crack [[cocaine, often nicknamed "crack" after the sound made during its manufacture, appeared primarily in impoverished inner-city neighborhoods in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami in late 1984 and 1985. Because of the dangers for manufacturers of using ether to produce pure freebase cocaine, producers began to omit the step of removing the freebase precipitate from the ammonia mixture. Typically, filtration processes are also omitted. The end result is that the cut, in addition to the ammonium salt (NH4Cl), remains in the freebase cocaine after the mixture has evaporated. The "rock" that is thus formed also contains a small amount of water.
Baking soda is now most often used as a base rather than ammonia for reasons of lowered odor and toxicity; however, any weak base can be used to make crack cocaine. When commonly "cooked" the ratio is 3:4 parts cocaine per bicarbonate. This acts as a filler which extends the overall profitability of illicit sales. Crack cocaine may be reprocessed in small quantities with water (users refer to the resultant product as "cookback"). This removes the residual bicarbonate, and any adulterants or cuts that have been used in the previous handling of the cocaine and leaves a relatively pure, anhydrous cocaine base. The net reaction when using sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3, common baking soda) is:
