GOVERNOR'S PLAN NARROWS SENTENCING GAP BETWEEN CRACK AND POWDER COCAINE

RICHMOND - The governor's sweeping initiative to slap harsher penalties on
drug dealers gained an unexpected element of reform this week: the near
elimination of distinctions between powder and crack cocaine in state law.

Right now, a person caught with 1.5 kilograms of crack can be sent to
prison for 20 years - the same penalty faced by someone caught with 500
kilograms of powder cocaine.

This disparity, which is shared in some fashion by 13 states and the
federal government, has been labeled as racist by minority organizations
because of national statistics showing a disproportionately high number of
blacks charged with crack possession.

Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore's anti-crime initiative, which would impose
mandatory life sentences on the worst drug dealers, began narrowing the gap
between users of crack and powder cocaine.

A House panel this week went even further, reducing the disparity - which
currently stands at 333-to-1 - to 2-to-1. The committee also increased the
amount of crack someone would have to possess to qualify as a drug kingpin.

For every other type of drug, the bill would reduce the quantity necessary
to qualify for the harshest sentences.

"For a long time, small-volume crack dealers have gotten the same penalties
as big-time powder dealers," said Del. Robert F. McDonnell, R-Virginia
Beach, sponsor of both the broad drug bill and the new amendment. "A
compelling case was made that it was time to change the laws and do away
with any differences."

The action pleased lawmakers like Portsmouth Democratic Del. Kenneth R.
Melvin, who opposes the governor's overall package.

"I have to give them credit for reducing the ratio between crack and
cocaine," said Melvin, who first raised concerns about the disparity to
McDonnell. "They had the votes to pass it any way they wanted, but they
still made the changes."

But it disturbs some law-enforcement officials who say that the highly
addictive nature of crack, which is smoked, makes it a more dangerous drug.

Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Chuck Griffith said he could only support
the change if it were based on science - how much cocaine it takes to make
crack - and not political influences.

"It's a more addictive and dangerous substance in its crack form than in
the powder form," Griffith said. "And to reduce the distinction would be
like saying, 'If you take this powder and you make it more dangerous, we
will punish you less severely.' "

McDonnell said he based the new ratio on information, given to him by the
Gilmore administration, that it takes about two grams of cocaine to make
one gram of crack. The Senate version of the governor's initiative reduces
the disparity to 10 grams of cocaine to 1 gram of crack in one section and
166-to-1 in another.

Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, chairman of the Senate Courts
Committee and sponsor of the Senate version of the governor's bill, said he
would support changes similar to those made in the House.

Gilmore's SABRE initiative, which also calls for about $20 million in new
rehabilitation spending - would impose mandatory life terms without parole
for drug dealers doing more than $250,000 in drug business during a year or
possessing large quantities of drugs with the intent to sell.

Currently, the penalty for drug kingpins is a mandatory minimum of 20
years. McDonnell's bill, which was approved by the House Courts of Justice
Committee 21-2 Tuesday, is now under consideration by the chamber's budget
committee. Both the Senate and House versions will come to a full vote in
their respective chambers by next Tuesday. Passage has been deemed likely
due to the new Republican majority.

The different penalties for crack and powder cocaine were hotly debated
throughout the 1990s.

Supporters said that the highly addictive nature of crack justified harsher
penalties at lower quantities.

Opponents argued that governments were making unfair, unfounded - and
potentially racist - distinctions between drugs that stem from the same base.

According to a 1995 study conducted by a federal agency, two-thirds of
crack users were white or Latino, while 84.5 percent of those convicted of
possession were black. Conversely, 58 percent of those convicted of cocaine
possession were white, while 27.4 percent were black.

In the study, the United States Sentencing Commission said the federal
government's 100-to-1 ratio was unjustified because of the small
differences between the two forms of cocaine. Two years later, the
commission recommended a reduction to 5-to-1 - an initiative that has been
proposed but not endorsed by Congress. The statistics about how much powder
it takes to make one gram of crack vary widely, with some arguing that it
is 10-to-1 and others, like McDonnell, arguing that it is 2-to-1. The 1995
study found that it was 1.1-to-1, although it all depends on who is making it.

In addition to quantity, observers argue, laws must take into account the
drug's addictive quality. Stolle and McDonnell both argued that there is
nothing racist about the state's current law. But they agreed that the
disparity is not completely consistent with other parts of state law.

The law makes no distinction between different levels of purity in powder
cocaine, Stolle pointed out, but imposes much harsher penalties on crack -
a relatively impure form of cocaine created by cooking powder with baking
soda and water.

"There is a perception that crack cocaine is a black man's drug," Stolle
said. "I disagree with that perception, but this is only a good system if
it's accepted by the people."

Griffith also discounted arguments that the current system is in any way
racist. "I don't see how you can say that," said Griffith, who discussed
the bill with lawmakers last week. "No one makes somebody engage in a
criminal activity. It's a free choice, whoever they are, whatever color
they are."