*The Baltimore law enforcement source did not respond.

How has crack cocaine availability changed (spring 2001 vs fall 2001)?*

How and where is crack cocaine made?
Crack continues to be processed locally in many Pulse Check communities, either by users or by local distributors, as noted in previous Pulse Check issues. In Billings, Portland (ME), and Sioux Falls, however, law enforcement sources report that crack is processed before arriving in the community. Crack in Sioux Falls used to come from California, but for the past year or two has been coming mostly from Kansas City and Omaha. In Denver, all crack used to be processed locally, but now only small quantities are, while larger quantities come in preprocessed from Mexico. Both local and outside crack are also reported in Los Angeles and Washington, DC.

The New York ethnographic source notes that different dealers cook crack with different substances. More users there are starting to cook their own crack because quality varies from seller to seller and has generally declined since the last Pulse Check reporting period.

What are crack cocaine prices and purity levels across the country?
(Exhibit 3) As the table shows, street-level prices have remained generally stable across the country since the last Pulse Check reporting period. Rocks still tend to be sold in sizes of approximately 0.1 and 0.2 grams and sell for approximately $10 and $20, respectively, according to law enforcement and epidemiologic/ethnographic sources.

What are crack cocaine price levels in the 20 Pulse Check cities?

MOST COMMON STREET UNIT
	City/Source	Unit	Size	Price/Change**
	Boston, MAL	"jum" (small rock)	0.1 gm	$10/
	Boston, MAE	"bump," rock, "jum"	NR	$20, $40, $50/
	New York, NYL	rock	NR	$7–$10/
		vial	NR	$20/
	New York, NYE	vial, rock	NR	$10/
	Philadelphia, PAL	rock	0.5–0.7 oz	$5–$10/
	Philadelphia, PAE	rock	NR	$5/
	Portland, MEL	rock	0.1–0.5 oz	$50/
	Baltimore, MDE	rock in a vial	NR	$5–$10/NR
	El Paso, TXL	rock	0.25 gm	$20/
	El Paso, TXE	rock	NR	$20/
	Memphis, TNL	rock	0.2 gm	$20/
	Memphis, TNE	rock	NR	$5–$20/
	Miami, FLL	rock	NR	$10–$20/NR
	Miami, FLE	rock	NR	$10–$20/
	New Orleans, LAL	rock	0.48 gm	$20/
		rock	NR	$10/
	Washington, DCL	"dime bag"	75 mg	$10/
	Washington, DCE	rock	NR	NR/
		"eightball"	NR	$125–$130/NR
	Chicago, ILL	rock	0.2 gm	$20–$25/
	Chicago, ILE	rock	NR	$5–$20/
	Detroit, MIL	rock	0.1 gm	$10/
	Detroit, MIE	rock	NR	$20/
	St. Louis, MOL	rock	NR	$20/
	Sioux Falls, SDL	small rock	0.3–0.5 gm	$100/
	Billings, MTL	NR	0.25 gm	NR/NR
	Denver, COL	rock	0.1–0.2 gm	$25–$45/
	Denver, COE	rock	NR	$20–$30/
		NR	1 oz	$800–$1,200/
	Honolulu, HIL	rock	0.25 gm	$25–$30/
	Honolulu, HIE	NR	0.25 gm	$25–$30/
		NR	0.25 oz	$400/
	Los Angeles, CAL	rock	0.2 gm	$20/
	Los Angeles, CAE	NR	NR	NR/NR
	Seattle, WAE	rock	0.1–0.125 gm	$20/
		rock	0.2–0.25 gm	$40/

Gram prices, like street prices, have also remained stable between spring and fall 2001. About half the Pulse Check law enforcement sources report on gram prices for crack cocaine in their communities:

• Billings, MT: $125–$150
• Chicago, IL: $123
• Columbia, SC: $100
• Honolulu, HI: $100–$250
• Los Angeles, CA: $80
• New Orleans, LA: $40–$50
• New York, NY: $24–$30
• Seattle, WA: $100
• Washington, DC: $100

Only a few street-level purity percentages are reported:

• Billings, MT^L: 50–70 percent pure
• Denver, CO^L: 40–50 percent per rock (down)
• Los Angeles, CA^E: 80–85 percent, unit unspecified (stable)
• New York, NY^L: 58 percent per rock (stable)
• Philadelphia, PA^L: 80 percent per rock (stable)
• Portland, ME^L: 80 percent per rock (stable)
• Washington, DC^L: 30–60 percent per "dime bag" (stable)

How is crack referred to across the country?
(Exhibit 4) As reported in the last Pulse Check, slang names for crack seem particularly common in the South and, to a lesser extent, in the Northeast. They are rare in the Midwest and the West. One of the few new names mentioned is "CDs," as reported by the Philadelphia law enforcement source.

How is crack packaged and marketed?
The most commonly reported packaging, across all four regions, remains small plastic, cellophane, glassine, or coin bags, often the "zipper" type. Loose rocks are the next most common, followed by vials. Foil packaging is mentioned only occasionally, as are balloons and folded bindles of paper or other material. Since the last Pulse Check, one of the few changes reported is in St. Louis, where the epidemiologic source reports foil wrapping for the first time, in addition to the cellophane bags and loose rocks reported previously. The New York ethnographic source continues to report a movement away from vials, which used to dominate crack packaging, and toward cellophane baggies whose colors represent different groups or individual distributors. Conversely, the Baltimore ethnographic source reports that the most common form of packaging is vials whose different color tops represent different dealers.

CRACK: THE SELLERS

Who sells crack?
Young adults (18–30 years) continue to be the predominant crack sellers in nearly all Pulse Check cities, according to law enforcement and epidemiologic/ethnographic sources. Additionally, adolescents sometimes sell crack (as in Baltimore, Chicago, Columbia [SC], Detroit, Los Angeles, and Seattle), as do older adults (in Boston, Detroit, and Sioux Falls). As reported in previous issues, these individuals sometimes operate independently and sometimes as part of an organized sales structure, while some cities have both types of structures. Little has changed since the last Pulse Check, with only a few exceptions:

• Columbia, SC^L: Marijuana users in their teens to early twenties are increasingly becoming involved in crack sales.
  
  
• Denver, CO^L: Mexican nationals are bringing in larger amounts, and local distributors in the Black community are becoming organized and are selling larger quantities.
  
  
• Memphis, TN^E: Crack sales are becoming less organized, with more independent sellers reported.

As reported in the last Pulse Check, crack sellers are somewhat or very likely to use their own drug, according to the majority (13 of 17) law enforcement sources who discussed this question; epidemiologic/ethnographic sources, however, generally consider crack sellers as less likely to do so.

How is street-level crack sold?
Crack sales are conducted in ways similar to those described for heroin: hand-to-hand sales are commonly mentioned, as are sales involving beepers or cell phones, runners, prearranged meetings, deliveries, and referrals. Some variations, however, are reported. In Philadelphia, for example, crack is often exchanged for money, sexual favors, or merchandise. And in Chicago, the seller sometimes holds a rock in the mouth and transfers it to the buyer's mouth.

Only three changes are noted since the last Pulse Check reporting period. Beepers are increasingly used in Boston as sales continue to move more underground. Similarly, electronic communications are increasingly used in Los Angeles. And Columbia (SC) street sellers who deal in crack and marijuana are becoming more cautious about to whom they sell, probably because of increased law enforcement pressure—typically, they no longer sell to buyers in cars.

What type of crimes are related to the crack sales scene?
Crack sellers are frequently involved in violent crime, as reported by the majority of law enforcement (12 of 16) and epidemiologic/ethnographic (10 of 13) sources who discussed this question. Some of the crimes specified include turf wars (in Sioux Falls and Washington, DC), assaults and robberies (in New York), and armed robberies and holdups (in St. Louis and Sioux Falls). Nearly every source who mentions violent crime also mentions gang-related activities.

The vast majority of sources also mention prostitution and nonviolent crimes. Some sources specify the nonviolent crimes: larcenies, robberies, car break-ins, and increased counterfeiting in Columbia, SC; burglaries and car thefts in Sioux Falls; thefts and burglaries in Billings; petty theft in Boston; and intimidation in New York. Domestic violence is mentioned in Boston, El Paso, Honolulu, Memphis, New York, and St. Louis. Users, as well as sellers, are often mentioned in relation to some of these crimes.

How is crack cocaine referred to across different regions of the country?

Where is crack cocaine sold?
Central city areas, as reported in the last Pulse Check, are the most common locations for crack sales. Suburban areas (or both central city and suburban areas), however, are mentioned by law enforcement or epidemiologic/ethnographic sources in Detroit, El Paso, Miami, and Los Angeles. All three types of areas—central city, suburban and rural—are named in Billings, Memphis, New York, and Portland (ME). The vast majority of sources report that crack is sold both indoors and outdoors. Only a few changes are reported since the last reporting period:

• Boston, MA^E: Crack sales have moved more indoors.
  
  
• Detroit, MI^L: Indoor versus outdoor sales vary, depending on the season and on the dealer.
  
  
• Memphis, TN^E: Crack sales are moving out of the city and into the suburbs and rural areas.

Only one source reports any changes in the specific settings for crack sales. In Memphis, the epidemiologic source notes two new settings: restaurants, where "the cook does the dealing, and the customers and waiters smoke crack in the back" (particularly in the suburbs); and shelters and group homes, where prescription pills are sometimes bartered for crack.

Other specific settings for crack sales have not changed since the last Pulse Check. Public housing developments, private residences, cars, and crack houses are still mentioned by law enforcement and epidemiologic/ethnographic sources in nearly every city. Private parties, nightclubs/bars, parks/playgrounds, in or around schools, and hotels/motels are mentioned in approximately half of the cities. Less commonly mentioned settings are college campuses (in seven cities), in or around shopping malls (six cities), around drug or alcohol treatment clinics (six cities), raves (in Billings, Miami, Honolulu, and New York), and in or near supermarkets (in Columbia, Miami, New York, and Philadelphia ). New York has the widest range of crack sales settings, followed by Memphis and Philadelphia.

What other drugs do crack dealers sell?
Polydrug sales among crack sellers appear to be on the decline: compared with the last Pulse Check, more law enforcement sources (8 versus 10) and more epidemiologic/ethnographic sources (3 versus 6) report that no other drugs are sold. Three increases are reported, however, since the last Pulse Check:

• Memphis, TN^E: In addition to powder cocaine, as reported previously, crack dealers are also selling marijuana during the current reporting period.
  
  
• Miami, FL^L: Diverted OxyContin® is now available in the same places where crack is sold.
  
  
• Washington, DC^L: In addition to marijuana, as reported previously, crack dealers are also selling ecstasy.

New York crack sellers still sell the widest range of drugs, including heroin, powder cocaine, marijuana, and ecstasy.

CRACK: THE USERS

Who uses crack?
(Exhibits 5, 6, and 7) The majority of epidemiologic/ethnographic and treatment sources report that crack users are most likely to be young adults (18–30 years), central city residents, from low socioeconomic backgrounds, with a few variations in some cities as shown in the exhibits. Methadone treatment sources tend to report older users than non-methadone treatment sources. Blacks are twice as likely as Whites to be reported as the predominant user group. Although males are the predominant users according to slightly more than half the sources, nearly half report that males and females are equally likely to use crack—more so than any other illicit drug except ecstasy, as reported in the last Pulse Check. Nearly all methadone treatment sources report that crack users in their programs have completed high school; by contrast, the majority of non-methadone sources report that crack-using clients have only completed junior high. Crack users tend to be unemployed, according to both kinds of Pulse Check treatment sources.

What age group is most likely to use crack?

	Adolescents (<18)	Young Adults (18–30)	Adults (>30)
		Boston, MAE,N	New York, NYM
		New York, NYE,N
		Philadelphia, PAE,N
		Portland, MEE,N
	New Orleans, LAE	Baltimore, MDE	Baltimore, MDM
		Columbia, SCM	Columbia, SCE
		El Paso, TXE,N	Memphis, TNE
		Memphis, TNE	Miami, FLE
		Miami, FLN	New Orleans, LAN
		New Orleans, LAN,M	Washington, DCE,M
		Washington, DCN
	Sioux Falls, SDN	Chicago, ILN	Chicago, ILE,M
		Detroit, MIE,N	Detroit, MIE,M
		Sioux Falls, SDE	St. Louis, MON,M
		St. Louis, MOE
	Billings, MTN	Billings, MTE,N	Denver, COE,N
	Los Angeles, CAN	Honolulu, HIE,M	Los Angeles, CAE
		Los Angeles, CAM
		Seattle, WAE,N,M

Which genders are the predominant users of specific drugs in the 20 Pulse Check cities?

Source: Epidemiologic/ethnographic respondents

Many sources, like the Boston ethnographic source, report a static pool of users that is neither growing nor shrinking. Others, like the one from the New York methadone program, note a slight decline in overall use. Overall, crack users have remained relatively stable as a group since the last Pulse Check reporting period, with only a few minor changes and interesting variations in age, gender, race/ethnicity, and residence area.

How do users take crack?
Crack is nearly always smoked. However, isolated cases of injection are occasionally reported:

• Baltimore, MD^E: When injectors can’t find powder cocaine, they recook crack and inject it.
  
  
• Boston, MA^E: Heroin addicts smoke crack, but primary "speedballers" inject it.
  
  
• Sioux Falls, SD^N: Clients occasionally inject crack.
  
  
• Washington, DC^E: Cocaine injectors are finding it increasingly difficult to find powder cocaine, so they are increasingly shooting crack instead.

The majority of non-methadone treatment sources continue to report that crack users in their programs tend to take the drug daily, while less frequent usage is reported in Denver, Los Angeles, Portland (ME), St. Louis, Sioux Falls, and Seattle. As reported in the last Pulse Check, crack users in methadone programs appear to take the drug less frequently than those in non-methadone programs: daily use in methadone programs is reported only in Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

What other drugs do crack users take?
Since the last Pulse Check, several changes are reported in the kind of other drugs and drug combinations taken by crack users:

• Baltimore, MD^E: The use of "woolies" (crack combined with marijuana, usually in a joint but sometimes in a blunt) has declined slightly.
  
  
• Billings, MT^N: Clients are increasingly abusing prescription drugs with crack.
  
  
• Boston, MA^E: "Oolies" (marijuana joints laced with crack or powder cocaine) have been replaced by sequential use of marijuana and cocaine (either form).
  
  
• Honolulu, HI^E: Sometimes crack is used as an alternative to methamphetamine, but methamphetamine is usually cheaper.
  
  
• Memphis, TN^E: Two new phenomena are crack combined with marijuana in a blunt ("sherman stick") or with alcohol. The drug is also sometimes taken sequentially with pharmaceutical pills, particularly alprazolam.
  
  
• Seattle, WA^E: Benzodiazepines are emerging as a kind of drug taken by the crack-using population to "take the edge off."
  
  
• St. Louis, MO^M: After using crack, many clients are using a variety of health food products and diuretics in an effort to "cleanse the system" before urinalysis.
  
  
• Washington, DC^E: Crack smoked in marijuana joints ("wooties") is occasionally reported.

Where and with whom is crack used?
As reported in past issues, crack generally tends to be used indoors, in private, and in small groups or among friends, according to the majority of epidemiologic/ ethnographic and treatment sources. A few minor changes in settings or contexts since the last Pulse Check are reported in a handful of cities:

• Honolulu, HI^E: Like the heroin market, the crack market on beach parks has been disrupted as a side effect of police typing reports in beach parks on their new laptop computers.
  
  
• Memphis, TN^E: Crack is increasingly used in public and within groups since the last Pulse Check reporting period, when private and solo use were more predominant.
  
  
• New Orleans, LA^E: Raves have disappeared since a controversial theater was shut down last year and its owner recently tried, heavily fined, and not allowed to reopen.
  
  
• Washington, DC^E: Some seasonal fluctuations are reported, with more use in alleyways as the weather gets warmer.

Exhibit 7

What racial/ethnic group is most likely to use crack?*

	City	E	N	M
	Boston, MA	Blacks	Whites	NR
	New York, NY	Blacks	Blacks	Hispanics
	Philadelphia, PA	Blacks	Whites; Blacks; Hispanics	Numbers low
	Portland, ME	Whites	Hispanics	Numbers low
	Baltimore, MD	Blacks	NR	Blacks
	Columbia, SC	Blacks	Numbers low	Blacks
	El Paso, TX	Blacks	Black; Hispanics	Numbers low
	Memphis, TN	Blacks	NR	NR
	Miami, FL	Blacks	Blacks	NR
	New Orleans, LA	Blacks	Blacks	Whites
	Washington, DC	Blacks	Blacks	Blacks
	Chicago, IL	Blacks	Blacks	Blacks
	Detroit, MI	Whites	Blacks	Blacks
	St. Louis, MO	Blacks	Blacks	Whites
	Sioux Falls, SD**	Whites	Whites	NA
			Numbers low
	Billings, MT**	Whites	Whites; American Indians	NA
			Whites
	Denver, CO	Whites	Black	Numbers low
	Honolulu, HI	Whites; Asians	NR	Whites
	Los Angeles, CA	Blacks	Hispanics	Blacks; Hispanics
	Seattle, WA	Blacks	Whites	Whites

Sources: Epidemiologic/ethnographic (E), non-methadone treatment (N), and methadone treatment (M) respondents
*Shaded boxes indicate that a given heroin-using racial/ethnic group is overrepresented relative to that city's general population. Not all sources, however, had this information available.
**Billings and Sioux Falls have no methadone programs, so two non-methadone sources reported from each.

---

⁺ The following symbols appear throughout this chapter to indicate type of respondent: ^LLaw enforcement respondent, ^EEpidemiologic/ethnographic respondent, ^NNon-methadone treatment respondent, and ^MMethadone treatment respondent.

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