One example of the media hype that emerges around crack cocaine and the disastrous consequences it leads to is the coverage following the death of Len Bias in June 1986.

A young Black man, Bias dies of cocaine intoxication two days after he is drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA). The method of cocaine ingestion that killed him is unknown at the time of his death, but it will later be revealed that he died from a combination of powdered cocaine and alcohol, not crack.

Bias' death will be one of the primary motivators for the passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which leads to unequal sentencing for crack cocaine that has a disproportionate and devastating impact on Black and Brown communities.