Crack Cocaine Epidemic Emerges in South Los Angeles

Inexpensive crack cocaine, smokeable freebase cocaine processed with baking soda, begins spreading rapidly through South Los Angeles neighborhoods including Compton, Watts, and Inglewood. Ricky Ross and Freeway Rick's distribution network expands the supply. The epidemic accelerates through 1985-1986, devastating Black communities as addiction, violence, and incarceration rates surge.