CRACK V. COCAINE

The Ohio Senate Addresses A Glaring Disparity In Punishment

The Ohio Senate gave unanimous approval last week to a measure that
would change penalties attached to cocaine and crack offenses. The
approval has been a long time coming.

In the 1980s, as cocaine powder and its cheaper derivative, crack,
took hold across the country, violent crimes soared. Draconian
sentences were imposed for drug offenses, with the goal to take drug
kingpins and dealers off the streets for a long time. The goal was
defensible. Still, the laws made an artificial distinction between
cocaine powder and crack, creating indefensible disparities in
punishing drug trafficking and possession.

Under the current drug-possession law in Ohio, for instance, 25 grams
of crack is equivalent to 500 grams of cocaine powder. Both carry the
same mandatory prison sentence. It takes 100 grams of crack to be
labeled a ''major drug offender,'' same as possessing 1,000 grams of
the powder.

The disparities have disproportionately penalized African-American
offenders, the poor and low-level dealers and addicts who favor the
cheaper cocaine derivative. The result is that minority offenders
serve much longer prison sentences than whites convicted in powder
cocaine offenses.

It is important that Ohio ''equalize'' the penalties. All the same,
the Senate's approach, which would raise the penalties for powder
cocaine offenses to match the current ones for crack, is
disappointing. Ohio's jails and prisons already are bursting with
drug offenders who will benefit more from treatment than long
stretches behind bars. Revising the penalties upward means more
Ohioans will serve longer sentences, with a higher cost to the state.

The cocaine scourge of the 1980s spawned a war on drugs with
outrageous, tough-on-crime measures (such as ''three strikes and
you're out'') with questionable results. It is for good reason the
U.S. Sentencing Commission recommends reduced sentences. It is time
to move beyond the hysterical response of the '80s and look for
reasonable alternatives to reclaim lives damaged by cocaine.

The Ohio Senate gave unanimous approval last week to a measure that
would change penalties attached to cocaine and crack offenses. The
approval has been a long time coming.

In the 1980s, as cocaine powder and its cheaper derivative, crack,
took hold across the country, violent crimes soared. Draconian
sentences were imposed for drug offenses, with the goal to take drug
kingpins and dealers off the streets for a long time. The goal was
defensible. Still, the laws made an artificial distinction between
cocaine powder and crack, creating indefensible disparities in
punishing drug trafficking and possession.

Under the current drug-possession law in Ohio, for instance, 25 grams
of crack is equivalent to 500 grams of cocaine powder. Both carry the
same mandatory prison sentence. It takes 100 grams of crack to be
labeled a ''major drug offender,'' same as possessing 1,000 grams of
the powder.

The disparities have disproportionately penalized African-American
offenders, the poor and low-level dealers and addicts who favor the
cheaper cocaine derivative. The result is that minority offenders
serve much longer prison sentences than whites convicted in powder
cocaine offenses.

It is important that Ohio ''equalize'' the penalties. All the same,
the Senate's approach, which would raise the penalties for powder
cocaine offenses to match the current ones for crack, is
disappointing. Ohio's jails and prisons already are bursting with
drug offenders who will benefit more from treatment than long
stretches behind bars. Revising the penalties upward means more
Ohioans will serve longer sentences, with a higher cost to the state.

The cocaine scourge of the 1980s spawned a war on drugs with
outrageous, tough-on-crime measures (such as ''three strikes and
you're out'') with questionable results. It is for good reason the
U.S. Sentencing Commission recommends reduced sentences. It is time
to move beyond the hysterical response of the '80s and look for
reasonable alternatives to reclaim lives damaged by cocaine.