cannabisnews.com: Senate Stiffens Cocaine Sentencing





Senate Stiffens Cocaine Sentencing
Posted by FoM on November 10, 1999 at 21:27:04 PT
Narrows Disparity Between Substances 
Source: APB News
The Senate today approved a measure that would tighten penalties for sales of illegal drugs to minors and reduce the disparity in sentences for sales of powder and crack cocaine. 
The measure, approved 50-49, was attached to a major bill pending in the Senate to overhaul the bankruptcy laws. It also would stiffen penalties on makers of methamphetamine and prohibit the posting of recipes for the illegal drug on the Internet. Methamphetamine, also known as meth, speed, crank, ice and crystal meth, is often made in makeshift labs and has become a serious problem in much of the West and Midwest. "We must act to prevent our youth from ever starting down the path of drug abuse," said the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who wrote the provision. Tightens Penalties Against Dealers The legislation would increase penalties for sales of all illegal drugs to minors and for selling them near schools and other places where young people congregate. In addition, school districts that receive federal funds would be required to expel students who bring drugs to school in significant quantities or with the intent to sell them. The measure would reduce the sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine by tightening the penalty against dealers of the powder. It responds to complaints that a 1996 law making the penalties for selling crack cocaine more stringent than for the sale of powder cocaine has unfairly resulted in harsher sentences for blacks than whites. The presumption is that more blacks use cheaper, more addictive crack cocaine and that more whites use powder. Crack, Powder Cocaine Legally Closer The anti-drug proposals were attached as an amendment to sweeping bipartisan legislation that would make it tougher for people to erase their debts in bankruptcy court. The Senate has not yet voted on the bankruptcy bill, which has been pushed by credit card companies and retail businesses. The House approved parallel bankruptcy legislation in May by a veto-proof vote, 313-108. Hatch and other lawmakers have been trying for several years to put penalties for crack and powder cocaine on a closer footing. "Many people ... believe that the harsher penalties for crack cocaine generally unfairly affect minority Americans and the poor," Hatch said in a speech on the Senate floor. "Reducing the disparity between crack and powder cocaine will help maintain the confidence of all Americans in the federal criminal justice system and will provide more appropriate punishment for powder cocaine violations." Ratio For Penalties Varied Under current law, a five-year minimum prison sentence kicks in for crack cocaine sales at the 5-gram level, while the same sentence is triggered at 500 grams for powder cocaine. The new provision would narrow the disparity by reducing the threshold amount for powder cocaine from 500 grams to 50 grams. That would reduce the ratio of penalties for the two kinds of drugs from 100-1 to 10-1, the same level that has been proposed by the Clinton administration. The administration, however, seeks to narrow the disparity in the opposite way -- by reducing the sentencing penalty for crack cocaine dealers.Nov. 10, 1999 ©Copyright 1999 APB Multimedia Inc. Related Article:Senate Adopts Measure To Reduce Cocaine Disparity - 11/10/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3629.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by NateDebate on April 18, 2001 at 23:53:49 PT:
response to 5-0 b likin nutz
Pot cant be legal right now for three reasons.1. cotton growers and other textile manufacturers would lose mad bank.2. cops/corrections would lose valuable jobs3. taxing and regulation would make our fat oskie cost almost twice as much
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Comment #1 posted by 5-0 b lickin nutz on March 10, 2001 at 19:40:05 PT:
leaving tags on them jake's tiznoes
why cant marijauna be legal? iwoud like to have a living hell of dumping police piglets in to a fat a$$ fire using them as fuel while lightin my bligity of the coaals and the flames ohhh yeahhh milwaukee wiskizie biatches 2nd district annialator beeeeeeeaaaaaaaatch!!!!! and i am out
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