I can't resist the pun.

Oh nose! Equal punishment under the law! The wingnuts are going to have a teabag tizzy over this.

Soft on crime? What should we call the lack of aggressively prosecuting the war criminals of the last administration, tough love?

When I saw this on another blog, I went to the comments section to see what the wrongwing will be saying in opposition. Their basic position is that crack is pure while powder is diluted so it shouldn't be judged the same. I suspect this was advanced by users of the powdered stuff.

The other position is that both of them should get harsh sentences. That is more difficult to argue with because it takes into account the fairness argument. This was advanced by middle class college students who couldn't afford cocaine and had to get drunk instead. They resented that the rich kids got cocaine whenever they wanted.

There was also a lot of chatter about "choices" and "responsibility for your actions" and other stuff along that line that don't really come up when talking about things like torture, illegal wire taps, destroying the Constitution, etc.

You progressives are again attacking the fundamental values of our country. If we cannot reinstitute slavery for the blacks, as law & order republicans the least we should be able to do is put them all in jail. And no more crap from you progressives about giving voting rights back to convicted felons.

As a true believer in the strict interpretation of our original Constitution, I know that only white male property owners should be allow to vote! I am not opposed to counting blacks as 3/5th of a person for census purposes, but anything else is excessive. Let me remind you also that a strict interpretation of our original Constitution does not allow for women to vote - even if they vote right!

A consevative point of view is that there should be no criminal law for possesion of drugs. It is not the governments affair.

A consevative point of view is that there should be no criminal law for possesion of drugs. It is not the governments affair.
Posted by: EC sedgwick on April 30, 2009 at 1:35 PM | PERMALINK************************************

Besides, they are interfering with the free markets. Butt out of the drug business, you monster-sized, self mutating, hell-bent for growth, government bureaucratic menace!

Their basic position is that crack is pure while powder is diluted so it shouldn't be judged the same.

Which proves whomever posted that doesn't know what the holy hell they are typing about since crack is, in reality, not anywhere close to being more pure than powder.

Trust me. I type from experience. :-)

On topic:

This is great news. The disparity has always had a disturbing racial undercurrent (or even overt current) to it.

Now if they'd just take the sanity even farther and decriminalize pot and legalize it for medical use, we'd be on our way to having a truly sensible drug policy in this nation.

.

I've always said that if the teenage children of rich, white suburbanites started getting ten year prison sentences for drug crimes, the "War on Drugs" would be shut down in about six months.

Maybe Durban can offer to increase the penalties for powdered cocaine and to establish new guidelines where children of well-to-do families are given harsher penalties based on the assumption that they should know better.

Mark D. - I'd call it a tide, rather than something as meager as a current.

The thing that interests me about this disparity in sentencing is that I think it demonstrates that harsh sentences are not an effective deterrent.

100:1 and rock cocaine is still the most common form?

How hard can it be to grind it up?

There needs to be tougher penalties for crack. It is a totally different drug when smoked with baking soda. Maybe not 100:1 but it is far more dangerous and addictive. While it may disproportionally affect blacks that doesn't mean it's racist. I think any logical person can see this is an socioeconomic problem. In college I knew people who did cocaine, and it did effect them negatively. I also had a homeless man that I paid to rake my lawn. He was a crack head to the point were he was almost incoherent.

This is a good start. We have wasted so much money and hurt so many people with our ineffective drug laws.

Another disparity that might be addressed in that for pot. In many states, possession of two packages will automatically get the perp charged as a dealer, even if those two packages are tiny. By comparison, larger, single packages often will be simple possession, with much lower penalties.

SteveT has a point, but it will never happen. Rich people will always go out and get the best lawyer they can, while the poor make do, so to speak, with public defenders...