1.   The crack cocaine epidemic has passed, and some of the worst offenders are imprisoned, mellowed or dead.

2.   Drug experts say it could spell the end of the crack epidemic.

3.   Among them are the crack epidemic and an increase in economic hardship resulting from the failure of welfare benefits and the minimum wage to keep pace with inflation.

4.   As the crack epidemic took hold, the Rockefeller laws resulted in a swelling of the prison population.

5.   As the crack epidemic hit its peak, states adopted varying approaches to the issue of drug use by pregnant women.

6.   At the height of the crack epidemic, Washington Heights was a very dangerous place.

7.   A heated debate ensued over reports speculating that the CIA had spread the crack epidemic by backing Nicaraguan drug dealers whose profits went to the contras.

8.   A series in the San Jose Mercury-News asserts that the CIA may have played a role in launching the crack cocaine epidemic.

9.   But Kerry said he had yet to see evidence that US policy called for inflicting the crack epidemic on black Americans.

10.   But the crack epidemic waned.