The us sentencing commission provided this analogy in 1997 to support equalizing penalties for crack and powder cocaine. The disparity started in the 1980s, when crack cocaine started to ravish urban black communities in america. The sentencing disparities between crack and cocaine attn. What options are available to treat cocaine addiction. President obama signed a new law that will close the longdisputed 100. What is the chemical difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine that justified this disparity. Data show racial disparity in crack sentencing us news. Crack cocaine, also known simply as crack or rock, is a free base form of cocaine that can be smoked. Famm supported that reform, the fair sentencing act fsa. There is no significant chemical differencecrack and powder cocaine are both forms of cocaine.
So, the federal law still imposes a different and harsher sentence for crack cocaine possession than it does for powder cocaine possession, but the disparity is not nearly as great as under the 1986 act. The difference between powder cocaine and crack cocaine. With a set of mandatory minimum sentencing laws passed in 1986, congress for the first time distinguished between crack and powder cocaine. Since then the federal bureau of prisons began to have budget and overcrowding problems. On august 3, 2010, president barack obama signed an historic piece of legislation that narrows the crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparity from 100. Under federal sentencing guidelines, a smalltime crack retailer caught selling 5 grams of crackcocaine receives the same prison sentence as a largescale powder cocaine dealer convicted of distributing 500g rams of powder cocaine. Powder cocaine is the most pure form of the drug, containing the most pure ingredients and derives strictly from a plant. Crack is cheaper, so its found in low income communities more than pure powder cocaine. The sentencing disparity for dealing crack and powder cocaine was 100 to 1. Under the law, it took 500 grams of powder cocaine to trigger the same. Unjustified and unreasonable overview crack cocaine became prevalent in the mid1980s and received massive media attention due in part to the death of college basketball star len bias subsequently found to have used powder cocaine on the night of his death and not crack.
It recommends that congress alter the 100to1 cracktopowder ratio, but, in the. The commission establishes sentencing policies and practices for the federal courts. In addition, the drug is more commonly associated with systemic violence than its counterpart. To understand the problem blacks face with crack vs. Therefore, it is ironic that no one became more identified with this fight than rap mogul russell simmons. Prior to the enactment of the fsa, it took 100 times as much powder cocaine as crack cocaine to receive the same five, 10, or 20year mandatory minimum prison term. Crack cocaine sentences have long been much more harsh than those for powder cocaine. For example, the possession of 2 ounces of crack cocaine carried a 10 year mandatory minimum jail sentence compared to 179 ounces of powder cocaine for the same penalty. The manual of adolescent substance abuse treatment calls it the most addictive form of cocaine. Written statement submitted by carol chodroff, us advocacy director, to the house judiciary committee, subcommittee on crime. Socioeconomically disadvantaged adults are more likely to use crack over powder cocaine, and are thus more likely to be subject to arrest. Crack cocaine and powder cocaine are sometimes referred to in research and other outlets simply as cocaine, but there is a big difference between the two. Federal crack cocaine sentencing the sentencing project. This report addresses disparities in cocaine sentencing in states and documents efforts at the federal and state level to correct these injustices.
They do produce similar effects and dangers, and addiction to either can be detrimental to ones health. The ussc subsequently recommended rectifying the unfounded sentencing disparity between the two types. Crack cocaine and powder cocaine are the same drug, simply sold in different forms. Fair sentencing act american civil liberties union. Seeking rehab for cocaine or crack addiction is an important step toward achieving sobriety. Whereas, proposals to remove the federal mandatory minimums for crack and powder cocaine, and to otherwise eliminate the disparity for crack and powder cocaine by sentencing crack in the same manner that powder cocaine is currently sentenced, would threaten efforts to investigate and prosecute significant and violent drug offenders that deal. Powder cocaine after a decade of contentious debate regarding the federal sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, a number of significant initiatives to reform current policy have recently emerged. Crackpowder cocaine sentencing disparity changed in 2010. One would think, based on the sentencing laws, that crack cocaine is a very different drug than powder cocaineand much worse.
Find out more about the differences between crack and. Since the law went into effect, the ratio dropped to 18to1. Some 2020 democratic candidate argue that the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, which now sits at 18 to 1, should be eliminated entirely. While a person found with five grams of crack cocaine faced a fiveyear mandatory minimum prison sentence, a person holding powder cocaine could receive the same sentence only if he or she held five hundred grams.
Why are crack cocaine sentences longer than those for. Cracking the racial disparity for cocaine sentencing. The sentencing guideline amendments relating to cocaine base usually known as crack, which were adopted by a 43 vote of the commission, would drastically reduce crack penalties without recognizing the significant differences between crack and cocaine hydrochloride cocaine powder. Because crack and powder cocaine are two forms of the same drug, there should not be any disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine offenses the only truly fair ratio is 1. The most infamous example is the 100to1 powder cocaine vs. Regardless of changes in the federal law, a charge of. Both crack and cocaine are derived from the same type of coca plant. New drug law narrows crack, powder cocaine sentencing gap. The issues raised in the appeal will be discussed in future blogs as will the united states supreme courts recent decision in kimbrough v united states, 128 s. Before this law was passed, the united states had a 100to1 cracktopowder cocaine sentencing disparity. In the three decades prior to the passing of the fair sentencing act, those who were arrested for possessing crack cocaine faced much more severe penalties than those in possession of powder cocaine. Congress is considering a bill to change drug laws that punish crack cocaine violations more severely than those for powder cocaine. Therefore, the danger associated with crack cocaine versus powder cocaine instead relates to the trade of the drug, not the drug itself.
After cocaine and baking soda are combined, the mixture is boiled, and a solid forms. While they are both different chemical forms of cocaine, they differ in how they are made, how they are abused, their cost, dangers, effects, and more. The legislation also eliminates the mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine. But in reality, according to experts, crack cocaine and powder cocaine are essentially identical. A comprehensive examination of the 100to1 crack versus powder cocaine sentencing disparity under which distribution of just 5 grams of crack carries a minimum 5year federal prisonsentence, while distribution of 500 grams of powder cocaine carries the same 5year mandatory minimum sentence. Race and class penalties in crack cocaine sentencing by michael coyle overview after a decade of contentious debate regarding the federal sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, a number of significant initiatives to reform current policy. Crack first saw widespread use as a recreational drug in primarily impoverished neighborhoods in new. Sentencing commissions latest report to congress on cocaine sentencing can be found at the commissions website, under report to congress federal cocaine sentencing policy.
The federal government sought to crack down on the problem by implementing severe prison sentences for those people caught dealing crack cocaine. What is the difference between crack and powder cocaine in. According to the us department of justice, crack cocaine is more psychologically addicting than powder cocaine, and is thus more likely to result in chronic and heavy use. We wrote this paper to inform the public and congress about the disparities in the sentencing laws between crack and powder cocaine, which continue to have profound legal and social. Cocaine is a hydrochloride salt in its powdered form, while crack cocaine is derived from powdered cocaine by combining it with water and another substance, usually baking soda sodium bicarbonate. At the time, possession of crack cocaine resulted in penalties 100 times higher than possession of an equal amount of the powdered form. Despite the fact that powder cocaine and crack cocaine both derive from the same substance, the two are different. Disparity in sentencing for crack vs powder cocaine. What happens if you mix cocaine with alcohol or other drugs. Today, states maintain sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine offenses. After president obama signed off on new legislation to reduce the sentencing disparity between people caught with crack cocaine and those caught with powder cocaine, the minnesota democrat spoke to huffpost about what it all means. Keith ellison spent 16 years as a trial lawyer dealing with hundreds of cases involving cocaine arrests.
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