NationStates Jolt Archive

Or is crack "out" and something else is being sold now?

I realized that everything I know about the "crack epidemic" comes from books and articles still written in the 90s. And google hasn't been very helpful so far, so why not ask the big reservoir of Americans on here?

I know that not too long ago the mandatory sentencing laws that punished crack possession (black, ghetto) so much worse than powder cocaine possession (white, suburbs) came under fire and there has been some movement there. But that doesn't answer the question if crack is even still around much.

I also know that meth has gotten really big and nobody's really talking about crack anymore because it's "so 90s" - but meth is, AFAIK, still an overwhelmingly rural / small town / (white?) drug. And just because crack is "out" in the rest of the US doesn't mean it's "out" in the ghettos, too.

Anyone know? I imagine it has to come up in the news once in a while in some inner city crime reports or something.

Thanks.

Or is crack "out" and something else is being sold now?

I realized that everything I know about the "crack epidemic" comes from books and articles still written in the 90s. And google hasn't been very helpful so far, so why not ask the big reservoir of Americans on here?

I know that not too long ago the mandatory sentencing laws that punished crack possession (black, ghetto) so much worse than powder cocaine possession (white, suburbs) came under fire and there has been some movement there. But that doesn't answer the question if crack is even still around much.

I also know that meth has gotten really big and nobody's really talking about crack anymore because it's "so 90s" - but meth is, AFAIK, still an overwhelmingly rural / small town / (white?) drug. And just because crack is "out" in the rest of the US doesn't mean it's "out" in the ghettos, too.

Anyone know? I imagine it has to come up in the news once in a while in some inner city crime reports or something.

Thanks.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Well, I think they sell food, also. Can't have an obesity epidemic on crack, you know.

well with the housing market the way it is maybe trimming back to the glue is in order?

also an odd theory is that cocaine never caught on in the UK because of insane laws against it I got this from talking to a Maltese guy where the police a relatively lax on the cocaine but hardcore on the poppers

then again maybe its connected to that film blow

Well, I think they sell food, also. Can't have an obesity epidemic on crack, you know.
Ironically enough, obesity in the inner city stems pretty much exactly from the fact that hardly anyone sells food there. And the ones who do only sell junk food at highly inflated prices.
So not only can't they afford healthy food, they wouldn't even be able to get it if they could.

Poor people in the western world aren't often obese for nothing.

Anyway, not what I was asking about.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

About what?

Well, you did omit meth's large presence in clubbing communities and the "alternative" scene, not to mention the male gay scene.

really? I always found the gay scene in particular to be rather tame on drugs :confused:

Poor people in the western world aren't often obese for nothing.

Junk food is food. I think. Who knows what it's made of? It could be drugs!

Anyway, not what I was asking about.

Well, you did omit meth's large presence in clubbing communities and the "alternative" scene, not to mention the male gay scene.

Well, you did omit meth's large presence in clubbing communities and the "alternative" scene, not to mention the male gay scene.
I didn't "omit" it, I didn't put that "AFAIK" about meth in the OP for nothing and, apart from that, meth being big in clubbing communities and the "alternative" scene or the male gay scene has no bearing on what I'm asking about.

About what?

Why do some drugs are classified in social stratas. Why cocaine is more of a white collar drug and crack is relegated as being used only by "blacks" and in the ghetto. That has always intrigued me about the US.

I didn't "omit" it, I didn't put that "AFAIK" about meth in the OP for nothing and, apart from that, meth being big in clubbing communities and the "alternative" scene or the male gay scene has no bearing on what I'm asking about.

Well, you did say that meth was "still an overwhelmingly rural / small town / (white?) drug" AFAYK, but it's not. It has very large urban strongholds in certain strata.

Well, you did say that meth was "still an overwhelmingly rural / small town / (white?) drug" AFAYK, but it's not. It has very large urban strongholds in certain strata.
You wouldn't happen to know where they go to buy it?

Why do some drugs are classified in social stratas. Why cocaine is more of a white collar drug and crack is relegated as being used only by "blacks" and in the ghetto. That has always intrigued me about the US.

Ah.

Well, in this case it's easy to answer - a crack cocaine addiction makes you look like a walking skeleton in a few months and makes you in many ways non-functioning because all you care about is the next fix. It's a very physically and psychologically ravaging drug.

Powder cocaine addiction leaves you functioning and can be maintained for years without anybody noticing. Pretty much all of Hollywood is doing it more or less often and they still get on magazine covers looking like models.

With meth, I'm not quite sure, because a hardcore meth addiction has equally horrendous effects on physical appearance as crack and, as far as I know, even worse effects on the mental state of the addict. So I could see it not spreading much beyond rural areas where it's mainly used because it's cheap, locally producable and available.
I'm very much assuming that the gay and clubbing culture Fass was talking about tries to make sure they only use it "recreationally" and don't go into a full-fledged addiction.

Ah.

Well, in this case it's easy to answer - a crack cocaine addiction makes you look like a walking skeleton in a few months and makes you in many ways non-functioning because all you care about is the next fix. It's a very physically and psychologically ravaging drug.

Powder cocaine addiction leaves you functioning and can be maintained for years without anybody noticing. Pretty much all of Hollywood is doing it more or less often and they still get on magazine covers looking like models.

With meth, I'm not quite sure, because a hardcore meth addiction has equally horrendous effects on physical appearance as crack and, as far as I know, even worse effects on the mental state of the addict. So I could see it not spreading much beyond rural areas where it's mainly used because it's cheap, locally producable and available.
I'm very much assuming that the gay and clubbing culture Fass was talking about tries to make sure they only use it "recreationally" and don't go into a full-fledged addiction.

I see. Thanks for the clarification.:)

really? I always found the gay scene in particular to be rather tame on drugs :confused:

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/8800C071-F53A-414B-919F-2BF91764A9F5.asp
http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/04/040405meth.htm

I don't know what gay scene you went to, but in the major global "gay cities", drug use among gay men is alarming, although there are signs of improvement: http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/07/meth-and-gay-se.html

You wouldn't happen to know where they go to buy it?

How do you mean? They buy it where other drugs are bought, from their dealers.

Or is crack "out" and something else is being sold now?

I'm much more curious about your motive for asking. Seeking a new drug, are we? (hehe)

I'm much more curious about your motive for asking. Seeking a new drug, are we? (hehe)
Yeah. I just like to be au courant with my addictions, you know?

Yeah. I just like to be au courant with my addictions, you know?

What's the point of designer drugs if you end up picking one that makes you come across as an extra on Miami Vice? You have to know what's in, and what's out. Auf Wiedersehen!*

*I love Heidi Klum in Project Runway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Runway).

Yeah. I just like to be au courant with my addictions, you know?

Well it's so important to stay busy. *sage nod*

Depends on where you live in the United States...
As I have collected, cities like Los Angeles, Crack is the drug of choice. Recently they have imposed a zero tolerance policy and arrested many suspects of people who sell crack. The problem though is that their arresting Crack users, not the crack traffickers.

Though I am not 100% sure what the east has to deal with, but I believe it is meth... but I am just going off of my teacher who used to live in Michigan.

Does nobody know? Really?

:(

The economic situation in the inner cities hasn't changed, there are still no jobs and people have to survive, so there has to be drug trade which brings with it violence. And violence, at least its more deadly outbursts, is a favourite fodder for at least local news networks and papers.
There must have been some news items out there in the last few years mentioning what kinds of drugs are traded in the inner cities these days.

If so, I haven't noticed them. Lots of stories about the violence and drive-bys, and home invasions, but not much about what drugs those fools are on. I just ASSume that it's still crack.

Does nobody know? Really?

:(

The economic situation in the inner cities hasn't changed, there are still no jobs and people have to survive, so there has to be drug trade which brings with it violence. And violence, at least its more deadly outbursts, is a favourite fodder for at least local news networks and papers.
There must have been some news items out there in the last few years mentioning what kinds of drugs are traded in the inner cities these days.

Does nobody know? Really?


I really don't, myself, sorry. I live in a town of 100,000 people and we barely have any crime and the only real drug seen around here is marijuana and the local PD don't really worry about it that much.

I really don't, myself, sorry. I live in a town of 100,000 people and we barely have any crime and the only real drug seen around here is marijuana and the local PD don't really worry about it that much.

You're lucky. I live in a mid-sized city, in the "bad" part of town. As I said above (or below depending on time-warps), I don't know WHAT they're on, but there's plenty of violence, and surely drug use.

I'm living in lousiana, New Orleans in particular at the moment and from what is going on down here Crack has been out for years, slowly replaced by Meth. it is easier to produce, a Meth Lab costs less to set up than Shipping on Cocaine, and it is portable and dismantled easier. Meth has become the drug of choice both here and in California for the less than affluient level of Society. Atleast that is how it appears in my little chuck of the world.

I really don't, myself, sorry.
Hee, no need to apologize. I already figured that most people don't exactly live in big cities to begin with and even if, they wouldn't necessarily know what's going on in those parts they'd never dare go to.

And the inner city has really not been a big topic anymore since the 90s ended, not even in sociological writings - even though the situation has to still be very much the same.

I'm still hoping someone comes along who maybe remembers reading or hearing something about ghetto drug trade recently.

Despite what your government may tell you, inner cities are NOT a common hangout place here. I've never been there, so I have no idea.

You're lucky. I live in a mid-sized city, in the "bad" part of town. As I said above (or below depending on time-warps), I don't know WHAT they're on, but there's plenty of violence, and surely drug use.

That's a shame. We have huge community outreach programs here and a lot of civic activism. It's really helped a lot over the last 10 years. Now, go back 10 years, and drugs (mostly meth) and violence (mostly drunks) were a huge problem, but it has curtailed a *lot*.

It's amazing what can happen when an entire community stands up and says "No more!"

If so, I haven't noticed them. Lots of stories about the violence and drive-bys, and home invasions, but not much about what drugs those fools are on. I just ASSume that it's still crack.

You're lucky. I live in a mid-sized city, in the "bad" part of town. As I said above (or below depending on time-warps), I don't know WHAT they're on, but there's plenty of violence, and surely drug use.
Thanks! Well, it at least tells me that the violence is still very much what it used to be.

I'm living in lousiana, New Orleans in particular at the moment and from what is going on down here Crack has been out for years, slowly replaced by Meth. it is easier to produce, a Meth Lab costs less to set up than Shipping on Cocaine, and it is portable and dismantled easier. Meth has become the drug of choice both here and in California for the less than affluient level of Society. Atleast that is how it appears in my little chuck of the world.
Does this go for Louisiana as a whole, generally, or also for the actual inner city of New Orleans? (I'm actually not even sure if New Orleans has a classic "inner city", as in basically minority ghetto, I don't think so. So maybe I should ask if it also goes for the urban poor as opposed to those in small towns and rural areas.)

Despite what your government may tell you, inner cities are NOT a common hangout place here. I've never been there, so I have no idea.

Well, I didn't exactly think I'd find people on here you'd be able to tell me from their own experiences, hence why I mentioned (local) news reports.

http://sincerelyty.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/tyrone_biggums.jpg

Maybe you need to ask an expert like Tyrone Biggums about the how's and where's!

http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml?ml_video=24405&ml_collection=&ml_gateway=&ml_gateway_id=&ml_comedian=&ml_runtime=&ml_context=show&ml_origin_url=/shows/chappelles_show/videos/season_1/index.jhtml&ml_playlist=&lnk=&is_large=true

I remember a guy coming to me with blood on his face asking me if I sold crack. So at least someone in Belgium is still using crack. Other than that I've also been asked at some parties if I sell xtc or speed (might have something to do with the way I dance, I don't know).
Other than that I only know of people using weed in my personal experience (might have something to do with the fact that I live close to the Netherlands and weed is overabundant).
From the news I think the price of coke and heroin dropped not to long ago. But I'm not sure.

http://sincerelyty.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/tyrone_biggums.jpg


I lol'd

I lol'd

LMFAO!
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l235/linwoodboys/blackdance.gif

WTF brought this thread on? Sociological research in a relaxed environment? If you're so desperate, and what with you saying that "there needs to have been something in the news", why don't you go and search the (online) newspaper/online publication archives for relevant keywords?

TO answer your question WYTYG, in a general sense, crack cocain is probably still the most sold drug, next to marijuana, in poor inner city neighborhoods.

But meth is making significant headway, and the idea that it's a "white suburb drug" is quite innacurate.

WTF brought this thread on? Sociological research in a relaxed environment? If you're so desperate, and what with you saying that "there needs to have been something in the news", why don't you go and search the (online) newspaper/online publication archives for relevant keywords?
I'm not desperate, I googled, couldn't find anything decisive, and figured it would make more sense to ask here since the majority of people on here *are* American and you'd think it wouldn't be the worst idea if you have a question about a specific issue in a country to ask someone who actually lives in that country.

I didn't exactly anticipate the dearth of replies which is what allowed you to make your post in the first place, because apparently the fact that it turns out nobody here so far knows much about this makes me desperate retroactively.

Just as I didn't anticipate that me asking that question here would aggravate you so much.

I don't no what the statistics are, and I don't know what things were really like in the '90s (I knew which apartments were drug-houses, but I couldn't really differentiate from drug to drug at that age), and I certainly wasn't aware of it in the '80s, during the height of it, but you can still find crackheads in various inner city neighborhoods in New York City. However, I think it's more of an "older-person" thing-there is a lot of negative social stigma associated with the term "crackhead". After all:

http://www.untitledname.com/archives/upload/2005/3/keith-haring-crack-is-wack-playground-1.jpg

I take it as a good sign that Generalites know so little about this topic :)

I take it as a good sign that Generalites know so little about this topic :)

Agreed.

Thanks! Well, it at least tells me that the violence is still very much what it used to be.
I know, shooting your neighbors over drug is just one of those traditions you'd hate to see die out.
I take it as a good sign that Generalites know so little about this topic :)
I choose to take it as a sign that drug use among Generalites is so bad, we don't even remember what we're on anymore.

I'll have to say that it appears that meth, heroin, and "pharming" are the most popular forms of drug abuse in inner cities (aside from marijuana) now.

I honestly wouldn't know. Google crack and a major US city?

Ironically enough, obesity in the inner city stems pretty much exactly from the fact that hardly anyone sells food there. And the ones who do only sell junk food at highly inflated prices.

Anyway, not what I was asking about.

Bull. There are grocery stores all over the South Bronx with plenty of fruits and vegetables. In fact, sometimes, stuff you can't get in the suburbs. Until I came here I thought mangos were just mangos. Plenty of real food. But, you can't force people to buy it.

Yet.

But seriously, go ask any Bodega owner, he or she will gladly stock ANYTHING his customers will buy.

I'm not desperate, I googled, couldn't find anything decisive, and figured it would make more sense to ask here since the majority of people on here *are* American and you'd think it wouldn't be the worst idea if you have a question about a specific issue in a country to ask someone who actually lives in that country.

I didn't exactly anticipate the dearth of replies which is what allowed you to make your post in the first place, because apparently the fact that it turns out nobody here so far knows much about this makes me desperate retroactively.

Just as I didn't anticipate that me asking that question here would aggravate you so much.

Geez, did I give you any specific reason to act so defensive-aggressive, or is it just a general mood?

Bull. There are grocery stores all over the South Bronx with plenty of fruits and vegetables. In fact, sometimes, stuff you can't get in the suburbs. Until I came here I thought mangos were just mangos. Plenty of real food. But, you can't force people to buy it.

Yet.

But seriously, go ask any Bodega owner, he or she will gladly stock ANYTHING his customers will buy.

Don't get me started on grocery stores! When I was growing up, there were grocery stores everywhere. But in the last few decades, they've been closing right and left! My childhood home had 3 grocery stores in easy walking distance. All 3 closed, and the closest store to that place is a tiny place a couple of miles away with very tough-looking characters loitering around it. There used to be a grocery store one block from my current house. It closed right after I moved here, and it would be a long walk to the nearest store.

I choose to take it as a sign that drug use among Generalites is so bad, we don't even remember what we're on anymore.

Good point. It's say that would account for 50% of us :p

I choose to take it as a sign that drug use among Generalites is so bad, we don't even remember what we're on anymore.

Good point. It's say that would account for 50% of us :p

I've never really studied the drug culture. When I was in high school, no one I knew did crack. A few people were potheads, but teens are generally into the RX trend now. My uncle on my dad's side does crack, but there aren't too many crack junkies in this area (Pinellas county Florida).

Meth is gross. Meth is for dirty conservatives.

Drugs?

Crack is on the out, or at least seems it is in the South.

Meth is VERY popular, but calling it a white suburban drug is misleading. It's popular with us white folk.. but it's generally out in the boonies where all the white folk are po'. It's pretty much a drug for poor people since it's so cheap. (I say the boonies- where I live, if you're poorer, you don't usually live in the city.) In the poor areas WITHIN city limits, you can still find crack I bet, but you'll probably be more likely to find meth.

For the younger kids (older teens and college age), however... Marijuana is socially acceptable to almost everyone, and a LOT of people do it. X is fairly popular, it seems, but I have yet to meet people who do it with any regularity (if they still do it at all). Really popular? Prescriptions. But all my friends are too poor to get any, haha.

Fun Fact: When I first saw this thread, I read the title as "Manly Crack," and briefly thought if it was about male prostitutes.

Fun Fact: When I first saw this thread, I read the title as "Manly Crack," and briefly thought if it was about male prostitutes.

You're just on the lookout for sex machines, aren't you ;)

I choose to take it as a sign that drug use among Generalites is so bad, we don't even remember what we're on anymore.
I've been drinking club soda and lime all night, and now I'm building up to my big drink: Virgin Pina Colada.

In the Bay I can say that crack is definitely still big, but meth is big too, especially among younger users. I know a LOT more people who do/did meth than crack. The big labs are often in Mexico, however, and it seems like some of the smaller labs are moving away, so that's... kind of good news? Less people blowing up in houses, more people robbing liquor stores to get money for higher prices.

Heroin use is also still really big here, although I've heard it's gone down in other areas.

Or is crack "out" and something else is being sold now?

I realized that everything I know about the "crack epidemic" comes from books and articles still written in the 90s. And google hasn't been very helpful so far, so why not ask the big reservoir of Americans on here?

I know that not too long ago the mandatory sentencing laws that punished crack possession (black, ghetto) so much worse than powder cocaine possession (white, suburbs) came under fire and there has been some movement there. But that doesn't answer the question if crack is even still around much.

I also know that meth has gotten really big and nobody's really talking about crack anymore because it's "so 90s" - but meth is, AFAIK, still an overwhelmingly rural / small town / (white?) drug. And just because crack is "out" in the rest of the US doesn't mean it's "out" in the ghettos, too.

Anyone know? I imagine it has to come up in the news once in a while in some inner city crime reports or something.

Thanks.

Meth and heroine are pretty big in my city, along with the standard stuff (pot).

Geez, did I give you any specific reason to act so defensive-aggressive, or is it just a general mood?
Withdrawal symptom? (J/K)

Thanks everyone for the replies. :)

The media has a way of focusing on one drug menace at a time, it's easier for them to cover and easier for the folks at home to understand. In reality all of these drugs are being used at the same time in large quantities by people in all areas of society. The illicit drug market offers hundreds if not thousands of different products at any given time.

Crack specifically is still around and is certainly a multi-billion dollar industry. It is still used alot in inner cities especially among poor african-americans, but there are people all over the country, of all races who use the drug recreationally or who are addicted. Cocaine of both forms is widely available in the drug market.

Supposedly there have been a series of shifts between cocaine and opiate use over the past century. Opium came first, then cocaine emerged and was used to treat opium addiction. Most recently the shift has been towards opiates because of the massive surge in production that followed the downfall of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

You're just on the lookout for sex machines, aren't you ;)

....I plead the fifth. :p

....I plead the fifth. :p

Objection! Answer the man's question

Vancouver has meth heads and heroine addicts.

Objection! Answer the man's question

Objection yourself! Badgering the witness! :p

This is America, the drugs are endless. Crack, pot, smack, speed, "Special K", roofies, ecstasy, et al ad nauseum.

Nope, it's all tweakers here. Crack is so twenty years ago. Meth is literally destroying our city. New construction projects have to post armed guards to keep addicts from ransacking it for brass and copper. They'll probably be hitting the power stations, traffic lights, power poles and peoples' electrical boxes next.

Half the town is in darkness at night because tweakers climb the streetlights and rifle them for the copper wire. Some knuckle-draggers even knocked over and stole the statue of Sacagewea up by Astoria.

Fortunately, the Oregon State Assembly passed a law that hands down heavy penalties for people caught doing this. Some of my friends advocate beating the snot out of them when they catch them at it; normally I avoid trouble but I'm having a hard time arguing with that point.

Ironically enough, obesity in the inner city stems pretty much exactly from the fact that hardly anyone sells food there. And the ones who do only sell junk food at highly inflated prices.
So not only can't they afford healthy food, they wouldn't even be able to get it if they could.

Poor people in the western world aren't often obese for nothing.

Anyway, not what I was asking about.

Damn near everyone drives or has access to public transportation in American inner cities. They can go and get healthy food if they wanted to. As for the junk food it tends to eaten because it tastes better then food that is healthy. Surprised you would even draw this conclusion.

As for the drug of choice Meth has taken over for some time now because it is much cheaper then Coke. Anyone can make Meth if they wanted to.


Some Common Meth Ingredients:

Alcohol
Gasoline additives/Rubbing Alcohol
Ether (starting fluid)
Benzene
Paint thinner
Freon
Acetone
Chloroform
Camp stove fuel
Anhydrous ammonia
White gasoline
Pheynl-2-Propane
Phenylacetone
Phenylpropanolamine
Rock, table or Epsom salt Red Phosphorous
Toluene (found in brake cleaner)
Red Devil Lye
Drain cleaner
Muraitic acid
Battery acid
Lithium from batteries
Sodium metal
Ephedrine
Cold tablets
Diet aids
Iodine
Bronchodialators
Energy boosters
Iodine crystals

That's another way meth is destroying our cities. People set up "kitchens" in houses, store and dump toxic chemicals and when they're busted, the houses get "cleaned" by Hazmat.

Unfortunately, it's hard to corral toxic vapours so when the "cleaned" houses are resold or rented to real people, one of two things can happen.
1) The vapours ignite and the house proceeds to go BOOM. With people in it.
2) The unlucky come down with weird cancers five or six years down the line. We had that happen the next town over last year, a woman and her kids all got bizarre and incurable cancers because they were renting a former meth house.

In my experience, speed is a lot more popular and widely-used than crack. That isn't to say that crack use isn't widespread--especially (it seems to me) in the black communities.

But meth sneaks in everywhere--even into your pills. Especially into your pills.

So, basically, from what I know (about the west coast) it's mostly meth. Well, meth when compared to crack. I mean, mostly it is weed and pills (by which I mean ecstacy). But meth is a close third, followed by pharms.

From my vantage in a middling sized, midwestern city, crack has long since settled down from an epidemic to a persistent misery. Crack has to an extent de-glamorized cocaine generally. Those who choose to use it know exactly what it is and what it does. Heroin availability and usage have increased, among dedicated addicts, probably due to the Afghan poppy explosion, making it more economical and pure. I've even seen some old-fashioned opium. Meth isn't ubiquitous here, but I do live in an inner city, so my view might be skewed with regards to it. There have been meth lab busts in rural areas outside the city.

As for a racial divide in drugs, marijuana is by far the most common of all for everyone. I think marijuana usage has increased as crack has tapered off in the inner cities. PCP is still around. Strangely enough, most of the crackheads I know are white, urban and suburban. Overall though, I'd say prescription medication abuse is the most common type of hard drug use for white people. Oxycontin and its synthetic opiate relatives are popular among working class whites.

In my experience, speed is a lot more popular and widely-used than crack. That isn't to say that crack use isn't widespread--especially (it seems to me) in the black communities.

But meth sneaks in everywhere--even into your pills. Especially into your pills.

So, basically, from what I know (about the west coast) it's mostly meth. Well, meth when compared to crack. I mean, mostly it is weed and pills (by which I mean ecstacy). But meth is a close third, followed by pharms.

Actually, meth is /the/ biggest drug problem in California, statistically. But what you see depends on your neighborhood, too. Crack is still big in Oakland, but in the suburbs it's meth and prescription drugs.

Meth is, apparently, making rather large inroads here in BC. Also, someone earlier in the thread mentioned junkies making off with copper wire: there's been a couple news reports of power stations being broken into and live wires being cut down for sale.

Tsk, Sally.

No clue .. I've been away from the scene to know what's going on on that front for a long time.

That's another way meth is destroying our cities. People set up "kitchens" in houses, store and dump toxic chemicals and when they're busted, the houses get "cleaned" by Hazmat.

Unfortunately, it's hard to corral toxic vapours so when the "cleaned" houses are resold or rented to real people, one of two things can happen.
1) The vapours ignite and the house proceeds to go BOOM. With people in it.
2) The unlucky come down with weird cancers five or six years down the line. We had that happen the next town over last year, a woman and her kids all got bizarre and incurable cancers because they were renting a former meth house.

I have a decent amount of rental homes. I had decided long ago that if I ended up with one of them becoming a meth house I would have it torn down. You just can't get the pollutants out of the home. I have even passed on some land that was a great deal because after doing a little investigating I found that it had a meth Kitchen in a shed on the property.

Or is crack "out" and something else is being sold now?

I realized that everything I know about the "crack epidemic" comes from books and articles still written in the 90s. And google hasn't been very helpful so far, so why not ask the big reservoir of Americans on here?

I know that not too long ago the mandatory sentencing laws that punished crack possession (black, ghetto) so much worse than powder cocaine possession (white, suburbs) came under fire and there has been some movement there. But that doesn't answer the question if crack is even still around much.

I also know that meth has gotten really big and nobody's really talking about crack anymore because it's "so 90s" - but meth is, AFAIK, still an overwhelmingly rural / small town / (white?) drug. And just because crack is "out" in the rest of the US doesn't mean it's "out" in the ghettos, too.

Anyone know? I imagine it has to come up in the news once in a while in some inner city crime reports or something.

Thanks.

How dare you draw attention to a real, national problem while there are probably vague terrorist-like enemies potentially plotting to maybe strike against us at some time that may be right now!