This cheap, powerful cocaine derivative has almost destroyed what was left of the social fabric of the ghetto in major American cities. Youths who may never use this highly addictive substance are increasingly involved in dealing, for which they can make $1,000 per week. The founders of the crack trade realized early on that young teens do not face the mandatory jail sentences that older dealers face. Thus, they have recruited youths as young as age 8 to process, package, cut, distribute, and sell crack. Arrests of juveniles have increased sharply in major cities like New York, Washington, Detroit, and Los Angeles. In addition, nearly every city across the United States has seen an influx of gangs, many derived from the Los Angeles clans, the Bloods and the Crips. The crack epidemic and the organized dealing it involves have resulted in open warfare between gangs, whose weapons are often more sophisticated than those of the police. The crack epidemic has underlined the failure of the Reagan administration's anti-drug crusade, although the election year is bringing many promises about efforts to deal with the problem.