How To Make Fake Crack That Gets You High

The Latest Swindle: Peddling Fake Crack

March 9, 1989

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March 9, 1989

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A new breed of street-corner confidence men has joined the purveyors of counterfeit Gucci bags, Rolex watches and Chanel No. 5, say law-enforcement officials in New York City: fake-crack peddlers.

''It's referred to as 'beat,' '' Assistant Chief Francis C. Hall of the New York City Police Department said of the bogus drug. ''There are several substances they use to make it.''

The authorities say the phenomenon first became apparent about a year ago, when they began noticing a sharp rise in shoplifting cases involving a widely advertised over-the-counter product sold to soothe toothaches and denture pain.

''They boil the stuff down, dry it out and bottle it for $5,'' said a prosecutor familiar with the practice. ''It looks just like crack.''

In one recent shoplifting case, police officials said, two young men were caught outside a supermarket in Manhattan with 38 packages of the toothache drops between them, most of it stuffed in pockets and tucked under their jackets. A third companion was arrested nearby with a large quantity of antiperspirant deodorant sticks and jars of medicated salve.

''The toothache pharmaceutical has a mild anesthetic in it, so I suppose some people get a little something from smoking it,'' said Chief Hall, who retired yesterday as the head of the Police Department's narcotics division. ''God knows, maybe some of them actually get high from it. The power of suggestion can be very strong.''

In addition to solid deodorant and antiseptic creams, white bread is also popular as a crack look-alike, officials say. Balled up and artfully rolled between the fingers for effect, it has exactly the same whitish, lumpy appearance of the real thing, a smokable, highly addictive cocaine derivative whose effects have ravaged whole neighborhoods in New York and other major cities.

''We had a lot of cases in Washington Square Park not long ago where they were selling soap in crack vials,'' the chief added. ''There's no limit to people's imaginations. But once we seize it, we don't know what it is until the lab looks at it, because we don't go inside the vial. All we know is that it looks like crack. And of course, once the lab says, 'Not a controlled substance,' we have to release them.'' 'High Degree of Risk'

Theoretically, fake-crack salesmen in New York City could be charged with a misdemeanor known as ''fraudulent accosting'' - but prosecutors point out that few crack customers bilked of their money are likely to move things along by filing a complaint with the police.

''I would say there's a high degree of risk here,'' Chief Hall said, recalling the 1960's and 70's, when people commonly substituted oregano for marijuana and talcum powder for amphetamines. ''Not from the police, but from the people you sell it to, who are not going to tolerate it. Who knows how many people may have been injured or even killed doing that? It's not a prudent thing to do, in my estimation.''

The chief, who estimated that ''several hundred'' of the 90,000-odd narcotics arrests the police made last year were thrown out because of bogus crack, said the phenomenon did not, unfortunately, strike him as ''a growing trend.''

''It doesn't have to be,'' he said. ''There's plenty of the real stuff right here in the city.''