[Ads-l] antedating "crack" (cocaine)

Bill Mullins amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM
Sat Oct 3 18:04:32 UTC 2020


Various forms:


crack --OED has 6 Dec 1985
NY Daily News 8 Aug 1984 p 5 col 3
"Graciela buys $20 worth of the drug -- it's called a "crack" -- and moves on quickly to another base house.  She'll smoke her crack there, but the high won't last long -- maybe half an hour."


crack baby -- not in OED
London UK _Guardian_ 16 Dec 1986 p 20 col 1
"For these are the so-called crack babies, whose sole misfortune was to be born to mothers addicted to crack -- the cheap, potent smokeable form of cocaine."


crack house -- OED has 6 Dec 1985
Wilmington DE _News Journal_ 20 Nov 1985 p A3 col 5
"Meanwhile, narcotics officers of the New York City Police Department have shut down a few of the so-called crack houses, the rough equivalent of heroin-shooting galleries, where sales are made and users gather for smoking binges that can last for several days."

crack whore -- OED has 1990
NY Daily News Magazine 24 Aug 1986 p 19 col 3
"When a big club is hit, the cops often find "crack whores," young girls who spend days getting high and having sex for money or drugs."

free-base  -- OED has 25 July 1979
Ukiah CA _Ukiah Daily Journal_ 13 Apr 1979 p 2 col 3
"What patients take, said Moore, is "free-base cocaine -- absolutely pure cocaine with no salt. ""



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