ANOTHER WAY TO SENTENCING PARITY

Regarding the Nov. 26 editorial "Penalties for Crack":

First, the composition of the U.S. Sentencing Commission does not
reflect the makeup of the communities most affected by lowering crack
cocaine penalties. By far, crack is most prevalent in African American
communities. Yet there is not a single African American on the commission.

And no parents of any race were at this month's hearing to testify
about the struggle to keep crack dealers away from their children or
to keep their children from becoming dealers themselves. I have
personally surveyed more than 500 African American family members,
ministers, law enforcement personnel, teachers and others in the
Washington area. When asked about lowering crack cocaine penalties,
their response generally is: Don't they know those dealers would be
right back on our streets?

No one wants to see young people in jail, but we cannot live in chaos.
A better solution, in my view after 25 years of working in drug
prevention, is to invest our money up front, before drug use begins.
And if we're going to change penalties, let's do what the black
delegation of the Ohio Senate succeeded in getting unanimously
approved by that body last month and raise powder cocaine penalties to
match those for crack.

Joyce Nalepka

President

Drug-Free Kids: America's Challenge