1980's CRACK EPIDEMIC

1980'S CRACK EPIDEMIC!

During the 1980's, there was a time where a lot of crack was being used. This time was known as the "Crack Epidemic". In the early 1980's, the area that was used to land their "Cocaine" was in Miami. Many drug dealers started facing issues that their business would go down, but then the drug dealers came up with what they thought was a solution. They converted the powder into "crack", which consisted of a solid smokeable form of cocaine, that could be sold in smaller quantities, to more people. for these drugdealers this was a very good profit because they could sell it for cheap and it was easy to find, ready to use when bought. This drug became well known in the areas of Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, and Houston. In some major cities, such as New York,Philadelphia, Houston, Los Angeles, Detroit, one dosage unit of crack could be obtained for $2.50. This drug was also very effective to many drugdealers because it was very addictive in a short period of time.

Crack first began to be used in Los Angeles in 1984. The distribution and use of the drug exploded that same year and by the end of 1986, and was available in 28 states from the United States. According to the 1985–1986 National Narcotics Intelligence Consumers Committee Report, crack could be found in New Orleans, Philadelphia, New York City, Houston, San Diego, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, St. Louis, Atlanta, Oakland, Kansas City, Miami, Newark, San Francisco, Buffalo, and Dallas.

During the time that that Crack was being used a lot, there were many reports on people having to be in the hospital due to crack related cases. the number of patients having to be tranported to emergency room increased by 12 percent, from 23,500 to 26,300. In 1986, they increased 110 percent, from 26,300 to 55,200. Between 1984 and 1987, cocaine incidents increased to 220,800. Many people were using crack alot, even pregnant women. In Many Cases, starting in 1984 there was an increase in fetal death rates and low birth-weight babies to mothers who were using crack cocaine, especially in the Los Angeles Area. What's known as The first "crack babies" were born between September and December 1984. It was after many years that this popular drug was being used so much.

Although today many people still use this drug, and it's still dangerous, The Crack Epidemic is still remembered as something big that happened during th 1980's. this time was an impact to our society back then and even today because, many people saw how life was being wastedaway because of this drug, and many people were even born during this time,and actually survived.