In one case a Hartford teenager was shot after leading patrolmen on a chase in a half-g car belonging to a woman in the suburbs. Half-g cars offer young drug dealers not only increased mobility but also the opportunity to commit crimes in vehicles that cannot be traced to them.

In Hartford, Mass., addicts are renting their cars to drug dealers by the hour or by the day, typically in return for a half-gram of cocaine. Observers say the "half-g cars" give drug-dealing youngsters a new sense of power and mobility.

Born in the aftermath of the crack '90s, they have come to be known in Hartford and other areas of the state as "half-g" cars — cars rented by the hour or day to drug dealers, typically in return for a half-gram of cocaine.