Tier Voices

Each Week This Adult Panel Voices Its Opinions on Issues Facing the
Southern Tier.

COCAINE SENTENCING

Should Criminals Who Sell Crack Cocaine Get Harsher Prison Sentences
Than Those Who Sell Powder Cocaine?

Marc Lippman

"The most dangerous drug being sold to us is the distortion of truth
which rationalizes governmental policies that do not serve the public
good. I think that our representatives in government who sell their
authority to the highest bidder, who misrepresent what they know to
be the truth, whose dishonest policies hurt so many people in so many
ways, ought to get harsher penalties than those who sell either crack
or powder cocaine."

Jane Shear

"If I understand this situation correctly, the big difference between
crack cocaine and powder cocaine is the clientele. If that is
correct, then sentencing would be harsher for African-Americans than
for white dealers, and that would be blatantly discriminatory. What
concerns me most about the war on drugs is our tendency to fill our
prisons with dealers and users alike, instead of treating drug
addiction as the illness it is. We should be looking at what turns
people into heavy drug users, rather than concentrating our efforts
on how to punish people."

Scott C. Gottlieb

"Harsher sentences for crack dealers will do nothing to deter crack
sales or crack addiction. This analysis must start with the obvious
premise that both parties to the crack sale transaction each have a
very strong desire to complete the sale. The user really wants more
crack and the dealer really wants more profit. Combining those
desires with human nature, there's little chance that anything can be
done to keep these transactions from reoccurring. Thus far,
government interdiction alone has done little to stop the drug trade.
The fact that drug sales are rampant even in our maximum security
prisons is a testament to the fact that it can't be stopped, even in
our most controlled environments. Politically correct or not, we're
going to have to offer strong incentives for users and dealers to
stop. Give the addict a job and a decent place to stay for as long as
he quits using, to be verified by drug testing. After conviction,
suspend the dealer's sentence pending completion of a job training
program and securing and keeping a legitimate job. Hey, some of these
upper level guys could probably hold their own at the Wharton School
of Business. The bottom line is that positive incentives long with
the criminal penalties already in place is the only way for the drug
problem to subside. We have to create a strong personal desire to
quit drug sale and possession that will overpower the desire to
continue with it."

Gordon Dusinberre

" It's not like you're comparing pot to heroin. Cocaine in ANY form
is a "hard" drug and penalty for sale should be the same, maximum.
But will this stop the sale of this type of narcotic ? I doubt it. It
seems like when one dealer is jailed it just makes more business for
the next dealer. "

Kathy Reno

"An illegal substance is an illegal substance. Selling and
distributing crack cocaine or powder cocaine fall under the same
criminal code violation, and prison sentences should reflect that our
laws against sale and distribution of an illegal substance were
broken. The drug or drugs in question should have no bearing on the
sentences that are handed down in our courts."

Ernest Patterson

"No! I've previously stated what I think of the "War on Drugs" in
this column (an abject failure). That aside, this is a no-brainer.
I'm sure many sanctimonious, self-righteous politicians would say we
need more draconian laws for those ghetto-dwelling, child abandoning,
low-life wretches who deal and smoke crack. Beyond that, we have to
fill our prisons or our governor will be closing them to save
taxpayers money. But, by gosh, we shouldn't be too harsh on
celebrities, upscale folks and general white-collar users who rot
their noses out snorting cocaine recreationally and who help keep
your local dealers in business? If you think I'm being facetious,
just ask any school kids to honestly tell you how many drugs are
available at their schools. We fill our prisons but don't address the
root causes of the drug problem and are benevolent towards high-end
users. There was one exception: Mayor Rudy Giuliani cleaned up
Broadway by pushing his gun-slinging, drug-dealing trash up Route 17
to Binghamton and points beyond. Thanks, Rudy! The sentencing should
be the same and some common sense applied to other drug laws. "

Jim Baumgartner

"Isn't the issue the sale of an illegal drug? What difference should
the form of the drug have to do with the punishment? What if the
question was: "Should someone selling beer to minors get a different
sentence from someone selling whiskey?" It is the act of selling that
is against the law, and I believe that there should not be a
difference in penalty."