cannabisnews.com: House Votes To Eliminate Cocaine Disparity



cannabisnews.com: House Votes To Eliminate Cocaine Disparity
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House Votes To Eliminate Cocaine Disparity
Posted by CN Staff on July 29, 2010 at 11:41:34 PT
By William Douglas, McClatchy Newspapers
Source: Miami Herald 
Washington, D.C. -- The House of Representatives passed a historic bill Wednesday that narrows sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine convictions, which civil rights and civil liberties experts say contributed to the disproportionate imprisonment of African-Americans in recent decades.The Senate passed its version of the bill in March. President Barack Obama, who during the 2008 presidential campaign said the current legal disparity "cannot be justified and should be eliminated," is expected to sign the legislation.
By voice vote, the House altered a law implemented in 1986 during the early phase of the crack cocaine epidemic. It required anyone convicted of possession of 5 grams of crack to be sentenced to at least five years in prison. Many lawmakers and organizations such as the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union complained for nearly a quarter-century that the law was unfair because someone convicted of crack possession got the same mandatory sentence as someone convicted of possessing 100 times that amount of powder cocaine, a drug more popular among whites.A 2009 report by the Sentencing Project, a liberal advocacy group, found that drug use rates were similar among racial and ethnic groups, but that sentencing among the groups for cocaine violations was vastly different, in large part because of the disparity between sentences for crack and powder cocaine.In 2006, 81.8 percent of crack cocaine defendants were black, 8.8 percent were white and 8.4 percent were Hispanic, according the Sentencing Project report. For the same year, 57.5 percent of powder cocaine defendants were Hispanic, 27 percent were African-American and 14.7 were percent white."African American drug defendants have a 20 percent greater chance of being sentenced to prison than white drug defendants," the Sentencing Project report said. "Between 1994 and 2003, the average time served by African Americans for drug offenses increased by 62 percent, compared to an increase of 17 percent for white drug offenders."The House bill raises the five-year mandatory minimum sentencing trigger for crack possession from five grams to 28 grams and eliminates mandatory minimum sentencing for simple possession of crack. Possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine carries a mandatory minimum five years in prison under the bill."In passing the Fair Sentencing Act today, the House sent a bill to President Obama that is a step forward in addressing the fairness of our sentencing laws," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "This legislation reduces the disparity between sentences for crack and powder cocaine - a step long overdue."Civil rights groups applauded the House vote and urged Obama to sign the bill quickly."Because of the mandatory minimum jail sentence for those convicted of possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine or more, people of color are being put in prisons at much higher rates than their Caucasian counterparts, and the judges have no discretion to mitigate the sentence for first-time or nonviolent offenders or special circumstances," NAACP President Benjamin Jealous said. "This legislation is just the first step in eliminating disparities in sentencing, and we will continue to push for the elimination of this racially discriminatory sentencing disparity." Source: Miami Herald (FL)Author: William Douglas, McClatchy NewspapersPublished: July 29, 2010Copyright: 2010 The Miami HeraldContact: heralded herald.comURL: http://drugsense.org/url/h81x87jnWebsite: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/CannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by afterburner on July 30, 2010 at 06:48:21 PT
Misleading Headline
crack - 28 grams - 5 years mandatory minimum sentencing. powder cocaine - 500 grams - 5 years mandatory minimum sentencing. Do the math:Still 17.8+ times as much powder cocaine as crack to trigger the same 5 years mandatory minimum sentencing. This does NOT eliminate the disparity, it merely reduces it. Weak! BTW, I am not a fan of crack or cocaine powder. I am a fan of fairness. To Congress fairness seems to be a game.
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Comment #2 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on July 30, 2010 at 00:47:27 PT
And the disparity between cannabis and fish.
And the one between cannabis and soybeans.And the one between cannabis and red meat.And the one between cannabis and hot dogs.And the one between cannabis and flax.And the one between cannabis and linen.And the one between cannabis and linseed oil.And the one between cannabis and other paint.And the one between cannabis and other canvas!And the one between cannabis and other paper.And the one between cannabis and other building materials.And the one between cannabis and other plastics.And the one between cannabis and other fuel!And the one between cannabis and other food!And the one between cannabis and other medicine!And the one between cannabis and other herbs.And the one between cannabis and all sorts of truly poisonous plants and poisonous plant byproducts.And the one between cannabis and all sorts of toxic chemicals!And the one between cannabis and radioactive nuclear waste!And the one between cannabis and mountain top removal mining!And the one between cannabis and deep water drilling for petroleum!And the one between cannabis and polluted water, land, and air!And the one between cannabis and deadly, debilitating diseases.And the one between cannabis and ill health.And the one between cannabis and poverty.And the one between cannabis and suffering.And the disparity between cannabis and any sort of logic, or common sense, or compassion, or even self-preservation.
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Comment #1 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on July 29, 2010 at 23:01:34 PT
Now let's get rid of some more disparities.
Like the disparity between cannabis and marinol.And the one between cannabis and alcohol.And the one between cannabis and coffee.And the one between cannabis hemp plants and opium poppy plants.And the one between cannabis and cotton.And the one between cannabis and trees.And the one between cannabis and nylon.And the one between cannabis and gasoline. And the one between cannabis and chlorine, ammonia, hydrochloric acid, etc., etc., etc.And the one between cannabis and prozac.And the one between cannabis and xanax.And the one between cannabis and hydrocodone.And the one between cannabis and morphine.And the one between cannabis and cocaine!
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