Finally, a Finish Line for the Crack-Powder Disparity

One of the most glaring disparities in the drug war may soon come to an end. Well, sort of.

It's been 23 years since the federal government imposed harsh minimum sentences for possession of crack, setting the drug apart from most other substances — notably from its fancy-pants sister, powder cocaine. Possession of five grams of crack carries a minimum of five years in prison, even though it would take 100 times that amount to get that same rap for coke.

You've heard about the racial disparities of these laws for years. (Most crack users are white, but 80% of those arrested for the drug are black). And since Barack Obama moved into the West Wing, you've heard that these laws were on the way out.  So are they finally history? The answer is (a hesitant) yes.

The House of Representatives could vote as soon as next week to pass the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which would increase to 28 grams the amount of crack necessary to trigger the five-year sentence, reducing the disparity from 100:1 to 18:1.

Unfortunately, the bill is not retroactive. But while this fix falls well short of true equality and sensible sentencing, it's a big step in the right direction (as our own Chris Cassidy wrote a few months back, the new law could be billed as "80% less racist!").  The Senate passed the bill unanimously in the spring, and the President is expected to sign the bill should it hit his desk.

We need to speak up to ensure that this reform actually happens. Urge your representative to vote in support of the Fair Sentencing Act today — this law may not completely erase 23 years of racist, unequal enforcement but in this system we take what we can get.

A Washington Post editorial yesterday urged House members to pass the bill, but took an odd middle road by praising the bill as "an important acknowledgment that crack, because of its addictive properties and its ability to quickly destroy the user's health, is different from powder cocaine and deserves reasonably tougher penalties."

I disagree. Drug addiction is a health problem and a societal issue, and mandatory minimums aren't doing anything to address the root causes. We should be sentencing crack users and dealers to rehab and job training rather than prison, though that's a subject for a different day. While I'm disappointed that this law isn't retroactive — and that it falls 20% short of erasing a massive inequality in our system — I fully support the bill because I believe fixes will come gradually.

And in the meantime, this bill is a step forward. Please join Change.org and write your congressperson today and ask them to support the Fair Sentencing Act.

Photo Credit: Sidewalk Flying