SYSK Selects: How Crack Works

In this episode, Josh and Chuck dive into the history of crack cocaine in America, exploring its origins, effects, and the social consequences that followed its emergence in the 1980s. They trace cocaine's journey from isolated alkaloid to street drug, examining the controversial theory that connects the CIA-backed Contras in Nicaragua to crack's introduction in American cities, plus they break down exactly how crack works in the brain and why it's so addictive. The guys also debunk the widely-publicized "crack baby" panic that gripped the nation, revealing how media hysteria and faulty science created a myth that had real consequences for vulnerable mothers and children.