Crack cocaine vs powder cocaine sentencing disparity crack

Crack and cocaine powder sentencing disparities essay sample. There is no significant chemical differencecrack and powder cocaine are both forms of cocaine. This report addresses disparities in cocaine sentencing in states and documents efforts at the federal and state level to correct these injustices. But its not a perfect resolution because it only reduces the current disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine from 100. On october 30, president clinton signed a bill that blocks the u. The sentencing disparity for dealing crack and powder cocaine was 100 to 1. The fsa changed this socalled 100toone disparity to a disparity of 18toone. 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.

Crack first saw widespread use as a recreational drug in primarily impoverished neighborhoods in new. Crack is cheaper, so its found in low income communities more than pure powder cocaine. 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. Now that disparity is being reduced from 100to1 to 18to1. Crack cocaine sentences have long been much more harsh than those for powder cocaine. The difference between powder cocaine and crack cocaine. These rocks are then broken into pieces and sold in small quantities. How an early biden crime bill created the sentencing. Until 2010, this sentencing disparity was 100 to 1, which means that while just 5 grams of crack would carry a 5year mandatory minimum. The nations lawmakers took a step in that direction nine years ago when they passed the fair sentencing act, which reduced the disparity between powder cocaine and crack. In the mid 80s, congress passed the antidrug abuse act of 1986. Both crack and powder cocaine produce similar effects. Cracking the racial disparity for cocaine sentencing. The main difference is the rate at which the high is felt and how long it lasts.

Assistant majority leader dick durbin dil introduced the fair sentencing act of 2009, a narrowlytailored bill that would eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine and increase penalties for the worst offenders. With respect to adults, it is fitting that those with higher incomes would be more financially equipped to purchase powder cocaine at higher market prices. Crack and powder cocaine have similar pharmacological and physiological effects on the body, as. 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 amount of powder cocaine necessary to trigger the sentence is still five kilos. Another difference between crack and cocaine relates to the high produced. The process to make crack cocaine involves mixing the powder form of cocaine with some base, such as baking soda or another substance, boiling it in water, and then removing the baking soda, which removes the hydrochloride. Data show racial disparity in crack sentencing us news.

Download page term paper on disparity in sentencing for crack vs. There is also, however, some evidence that race does not play a large part in sentencing disparity where crack vs. Congress addressed a historic wrong on wednesday afternoon, replacing it instead with a slightly lesser wrong, when the house voted to reduce the disparity in the sentencing of people caught with crack cocaine versus powder cocaine. Regardless of changes in the federal law, a charge of crack or powder cocaine is a very serious charge. Congress is considering a bill to change drug laws that punish crack cocaine violations more severely than those for powder cocaine. Why is there a sentencing disparity between possession of. Other issues may actually affect disparity more than someones race or ethnicity. What is the difference between crack and powder cocaine in. In 2010 congress passed the fair sentencing act, which repealed the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession and reduced the sentencing disparity from 100. Federal crack cocaine sentencing the sentencing project.

Even though powder and crack cocaine are the same price in terms of dollarsperpureunit, powder cocaine is more expensive as it tends to be sold in grams whereas crack is more often sold in smaller unit sizes caulkins, 1997. Famm supported that reform, the fair sentencing act fsa. The legislation also eliminates the mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack 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. Crack and cocaine also differ in the manner in which they are used. Since the law went into effect, the ratio dropped to 18to1.

Contrary to public perception, powder cocaine and crack are actually the same price per unit, but powder cocaine is more expensive as it tends to be sold in grams. Crack and powder cocaine have similar pharmacological and physiological effects on the body, as major studies have shown us. Why are crack cocaine sentences longer than those for. The adaa created a 100toone ratio between the quantity of crack versus powder cocaine needed to trigger mandatory minimum sentencing. Crack is essentially powder cocaine mixed with water and baking soda which is. Crack cocaine is essentially the same substance as powdered cocaine but in a different form. Crack is highly, highly addictive unlike normal cocain. The 100to1 crack cocaine to powder cocaine quantity ratio is a primary cause of the growing disparity between sentences for black and white federal defendants, the commission wrote. The federal government sought to crack down on the problem by implementing severe prison sentences for those people caught dealing crack cocaine. 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. Clinton signs bill to disapprove of equalizing crack. What is the chemical difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine that justified this disparity. The 1986 law created a 100 to 1 disparity between the sentencing guidelines for crack and powder cocaine.

Sentencing commission amendments to equalize the penalties for crack and powder cocaine from taking effect see congress nixes amendments to sentencing guidelines on cocaine, money laundering, 58 crl 1086, october 25, 1995. Disparity in sentencing for crack vs powder cocaine. The difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine powder cocaine is made from coca paste, which is derived from the leaves of the coca plant. Crack rocks are sold in smaller and cheaper amounts than powder cocaine, suiting those who can only afford one hit at a time. Crack cocaine is one of the forms of cocaine base, which is produced from powder cocaine and is smoked. Sentencing commission calling for congress to change the crack cocaine. Crack cocaine is simply made by taking powder cocaine and cooking it with baking soda and water until it forms a hard rocky substance. Specifically, congress directed the sentencing commission to report on the current federal structure of differing penalties for powder cocaine and crack cocaine offenses and to provide recommendations for retention or modification of these differences.

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. Seeking rehab for cocaine or crack addiction is an important step toward achieving sobriety. Crackpowder sentencing disparity reduced by congress. Under the current law, crack users possessing only 5 grams of the drug are charged with a felony to get the same charge, powder cocaine users have to be caught with 500 grams. The new law significantly reduces the cocaine sentencing quantity disparity from 100 to 1 to 18 to 1 by raising the quantity of crack cocaine necessary to trigger the five and tenyear mandatory minimum sentences first set in 1986. This disparity between crack and powder cocaine was driven by fear, instead of by research, of the intensity and perceived dangers of crack cocaine. Fair sentencing act american civil liberties union. 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. Crack and cocaine powder sentencing disparities essay. When someone smokes crack cocaine, the effects are felt almost immediately and can last for five to 10 minutes. 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.

Crack cocaine, also known simply as crack or rock, is a free base form of cocaine that can be smoked. Cocaine is typically snorted, and crack is typically smoked. Crack cocain has barely any similarities to its powder form other than the name and the fact its a stimulant. Before this law was passed, the united states had a 100to1 crack to powder cocaine sentencing disparity. 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.

Cocaine is generally found in white powder form, and crack is found in a rock form that is generally white, cream, tan, or light brown. Its a dirty drug that shouldnt exist, but unfortunately it does. The manual of adolescent substance abuse treatment calls it the most addictive form of cocaine. Despite negligible pharmacological differences, harshly disparate penaltybythepound sentencing developed amid widespread crack panic in the 1980s. Since then the federal bureau of prisons began to have budget and overcrowding problems.

Chief among these is the racial outcome of the sentencing disparity. Most importantly, the bill he signed on tuesday will eliminate the fiveyear mandatory minimum for firsttime possession of crack that compelled judges to send so many blacks to prison. Despite the fact that the chemical structure of powder cocaine and crack cocaine is nearly identical, the punishment for crack possession or sales is far greater than that of cocaine. Now, the ten year sentence is triggered by 280 grams of crack instead of 50. Support for reducing the disparity with powder cocaine offenders increased with reports beginning in 2002 by the u. Powder cocaine use is more evenly spread among ethnic backgrounds, and more white americans have tried powder cocaine than black americans. Falsely treating crack cocaine as 50 times more addictive than powder cocaine, as congress did more than in creating the 100toone quantity ratio, has implications beyond that of mere unfair sentencing. Not only does powder cocaine cost more, but it has been portrayed as an elite drug. Some 2020 democratic candidate argue that the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, which now sits at 18 to 1, should be.