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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 22, 2026

Novel Apparatus and Method for Drug Reinforcement

Novel Apparatus and Method for Drug Reinforcement

Published on: August 20, 2010

Is crack cheaper than (powder) cocaine?

¹RAND, Drug Policy Research Center, Santa Monica, USA.

Addiction (Abingdon, England)

|March 31, 1998

Summary

Crack cocaine is not cheaper per pure unit than powder cocaine, contrary to popular belief. This finding challenges previous explanations for the rise in US drug problems during the 1980s.

Area of Science:

Criminology
Drug Policy
Public Health

Background:

The rapid spread of crack cocaine in the 1980s was often attributed to its lower price compared to powder cocaine.
This price disparity was used to explain the worsening drug problems in the United States during that decade.

Purpose of the Study:

To empirically compare the retail prices of crack cocaine and powder cocaine in the United States.
To investigate the validity of the widespread belief that crack cocaine is cheaper than powder cocaine.

Main Methods:

Utilized data from the Drug Enforcement Administration's System to Retrieve Information from Drug Evidence (STRIDE) database.
Analyzed retail prices for crack and powder cocaine across 14 US cities between 1986 and 1991.
Employed regression analysis and t-tests to compare price data.

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Main Results:

On average, crack cocaine and powder cocaine have comparable prices per pure unit.
Price variations exist between cities and over time, but crack cocaine is equally likely to be more or less expensive than powder cocaine.
Observed price differences were not substantial when considering the overall price variation for both forms of cocaine.

Conclusions:

The assumption that crack cocaine is cheaper per pure unit than powder cocaine is not supported by the data.
Alternative explanations are necessary to understand the rapid proliferation of crack cocaine relative to powder cocaine.
This study necessitates a re-evaluation of the factors contributing to the crack cocaine epidemic.