Crack and Cocaine are nearly identical from a chemical perspective, but not from how they are used and their effect: http://www.attn.com/stories/2643/crack-vs-c

Crack and Cocaine are nearly identical from a chemical perspective, but not from how they are used and their effect: http://www.attn.com/stories/2643/crack-vs-cocaine http://www.attn.com/stories/2643/crack-vs-cocaine It's comforting to think it's all just a ploy to get at black people (like how cannabis was rebranded as "marijuana" because it associates it with those pesky Mexicans everybody hates) but there are valid reasons to be more afraid of crack than of cocaine despite both sharing practically the same active ingredient. EDIT: I'm not saying the War on Drugs doesn't particularly affect people of color more than other groups, or whether that is intentional or not, but pointing at the active ingredients and saying "look, they're the same except racism" is simplistic.