Crack Cocaine - Research Paper Example

Importance of medicine and drugs: The greatest invention by humankind was the discovery of modern medicine. As a cure to illness soon progressed to become a science that now affects the lives of all. The breakthrough innovation of medical drugs has helped man combat against disease and improved lives. What went wrong: Side effects if not controlled, similarly misuse of drugs can have consequences that are devastating to say the least. To avoid the harmful outcome of misuse, many detrimental and dependency creating drugs have been declared illegal by authorities yet they still find a way through many loopholes and enter and destroy the lives of many individuals worldwide.

Introduce Crack: Crack cocaine is a freebase form of cocaine that can easily be smoked and it is the most addictive form of cocaine. It is a popular choice since it offers a short but intense high to smokers. First developed during the cocaine boom in the 1970s but its abuse did not begin until the mid-1980s. The US Drug Enforcement Agency recounts that by the late 1970s an abundance of Cocaine in its powder form was being shipped to the United States and a large proportion of this came in through Miami, Florida.

(Add reference 1) This increased supply caused the prices of the substance to fall about 80%. When the drug dealers faced a drop in profits owing to the lower prices they transformed the powder to “crack,” which was a solid form of cocaine that could easily be smoked. Advantages of cocaine in form of crack: This form of cocaine could be sold in smaller quantities, to more people at better profit since it was cheap, simple to produce and easy to use. By the mid-1980’s, crack had found its way into many major American cities.

A much purer form of cocaine as opposed to powder. Soon after smoking the cheap and affordable hit, they felt a high and immediately would crave more. Phenomenon of crack babies: “crack babies”; babies who had become dependent to crack