American Notes DRUGS

When it became popular two years ago, crack, an inexpensive, smokable form of cocaine, revolutionized the drug trade. Now dealers have introduced a new marketing approach: crack pills. New York City police discovered the tablets during a raid last month. Sold with names like Press or PF (for performance) and still meant to be smoked in a pipe, the pills encourage brand loyalty and thus help pushers develop a clientele. What especially disturbs police is that anyone who comes across the aspirin-shaped pill may mistake it for a headache remedy and swallow it.