Ask a chemist the difference between cocaine and crack, you’ll likely hear about acid-base chemistry. Ask the other type of chemist and you’ll likely hear “about 5 years”. It is mainly the sentencing differences, rather than the chemical differences, that dominate discussions on cocaine and crack. Those sentencing differences were kicked-off by The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 (eventually Public Law No: 99-570), which resulted in vastly different mandatory sentences for federal cocaine versus crack crimes (US Code § 841).
How different? It took 500 grams of cocaine to get a nickel in the Big House, but only took 5 grams of crack to land you in the clink for the same time (see A, B & C). Clearly, it was legally advantageous to do and deal in blow rather than rocks. Based on this 100-to-1 sentencing difference, belies how chemically similar these compounds are...
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drrubidium @'Scientopia'
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