HARSHER LAW FOR 'WHITE'COCAINE

A first step toward establishing greater fairness before the law for black
drug abusers has been taken by the United States senate, which wants to
change the disparity in the penalties for possessing powder cocaine and
crack cocaine.

"Many people believe that the harsher penalties for crack cocaine unfairly
affect minority Americans and the poor," Orrin Hatch, the Republican
chairman of the senate judiciary committee, said. "Reducing the disparity
between crack and powder cocaine will help maintain the confidence of all
Americans in the federal criminal justice system."

There is at present a five-year minimum sentence for having 5g of crack,
compared with five years for 500g of powder cocaine. The senate's proposal
would cut the threshold for powder cocaine to 50g.

Official figures suggest more whites use powder while more blacks use
cheaper, smokable crack. Last year 48.5% of those facing powder cocaine
charges were Hispanic and 31.3% black; for crack it was 84.8% black and
8.7% Hispanic.

The Republican senator Spencer Abraham said: "It's long overdue that
Washington send the message loud and clear to drug kingpins and crack
peddlers that the price of business is going up, not down. I agree that the
disparity must be adjusted, but rather than make crack dealer sentences
more lenient we need to toughen sentences for powder cocaine dealers."

Critics say the measure, which must be passed by the house of
representatives and signed into law by the president, would increase racial
bias by putting more blacks and Hispanics in jail for possessing powder
cocaine.

The change is opposed by the White House, some federal judges and the US
sentencing commission, which all recommend instead an increase in the
amount of crack needed for a five-year sentence.

It is estimated that the senate scheme would put another 5,529 people in
federal prisons in the next five years.

"This measure will do nothing to address racial disparity in the justice
system," said the Democratic senator Paul Wellstone. "Limited federal
resources should be put to use going after kingpins."