1989-1991 SPECIAL REPORT: "NYC & PHILLY DRUG BUST"

In 1985, the number of Americans who said they regularly used cocaine reached 5.8 million people. At the time, that meant one in every 35 adults was hooked. And crack cocaine — which was made by cooking powder cocaine with baking soda and water — became especially popular.

Not only was crack smokeable, it was also cheap, readily available, and produced an intense high. But the fun didn't last for long. From destroying families to turning neighborhoods into war zones, the crack epidemic completely devastated the United States.

In response, police across the country racked up arrests in the inner cities. And the DEA ramped up drug seizures. By 1988, the DEA had seized 60,000 kilos of cocaine, in comparison to just 200 kilos seized in 1977. Meanwhile, First Lady Nancy Reagan told children to "just say no" to drugs and the D.A.R.E. program tried to stop potential users before they started.


But the ongoing "War on Drugs" failed to stop the crack epidemic in its tracks. So why did crack cocaine seemingly vanish by the late 1990s?


Consider the end of the crack epidemic in New York. In the 1990s, while NYPD officers were racking up nearly 900,000 drug arrests, crack use was already declining. It was also declining in Washington, D.C., where the police presence and drug arrests decreased — and where the city's own mayor was actually caught using crack.

So why did the crack epidemic stop? Many experts believe it was the crack users themselves who made the drug seem undesirable — especially since they were so addicted. "You don't find much crack use among the young," said Jean L. Scott, an employee at a drug rehabilitation center in 1999. "These people saw a whole generation go bad on crack."

Harlem resident Selena Jones, who grew up with a mother who was addicted to crack, agreed with that sentiment. "I remember being 10 years old, and having to take control of my own life," said Jones. "We were eating cornmeal pancakes without syrup for dinner — crack vials all over the floor."