Crack cocaine is a highly addictive and powerful stimulant that is derived from powdered cocaine using a simple conversion process. Think of it kind of like a loaf of bread. Bread is made from wheat. Wheat, like cocaine is a plant that is grown and harvested. To make a loaf of bread from wheat, one must add other ingredients to give it substance or structure. A recipe is followed, the ingredients are cooked, and the loaf of bread is created. For the cocaine plant to be usable as a drug, a recipe and process must be followed. This process of making crack cocaine from the powder form is rarely done by the user himself. Most users will buy it already made. For a user to have the patience to go through the process of making crack from powder cocaine would be virtually impossible, especially once he has already began a binge. When a crack addict wants or needs a fix, he want it NOW.

Coca leaves are stripped from the plant and crushed, chopped, and/or pounded and mixed with a solution of alcohol, gasoline, kerosene, or some other solvent that will separate the cocaine from the leaves. The resulting liquid contains unpurified cocaine alkaloids and may additionally contain waxy material from the leaves. This waxy material can be removed by heating and then cooling the mixture, a process that solidifies the unwanted wax. The next step is to isolate the cocaine alkaloids from the liquid. This is done with acid and basic mixtures. The alkaloids that are removed in this process are then treated with kerosene. The kerosene is removed and gas crystals of crude cocaine are left at the bottom of the tank. Typically, the crystals are dissolved in methyl alcohol. They are then recrystallized and dissolved in sulfuric acid, which results in cocaine that is about 60% pure.

The powdered, hydrochloride salt form of cocaine can be snorted or dissolved in water and injected. Crack is cocaine that has not been neutralized by an acid to make the hydrochloride salt. Crack is made when one takes the powder form of cocaine and adds it to baking soda and water. It is then heated until it becomes a solid form. This solid form of cocaine is what is known as "Crack Cocaine." The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound heard when it is heated. Crack is often referred to as "Rock" due to the fact that it looks like a small white rock pebble. Crack emerged as a drug of abuse in the mid-1980s. It is abused because it produces an immediate high and because it is easy and inexpensive to produce--rendering it readily available and affordable.