TALKING POINTS Currently, federal law requires that a person convicted of distributing or merely possessing 5 grams of crack cocaine is subject to a 5-year mandatory minimum prison sentence; a person would have to distribute 500 or more grams of powder cocaine to get the same 5-year sentence. If convicted of distributing 50 grams of crack cocaine a person is subject to a 10- year mandatory minimum, while it takes 5000 grams of powder cocaine to receive the same mandatory sentence. Messages to your congressional delegations. Senate We urge Senators to support future legislation that would eliminate the disparity between crack and powder cocaine. House There are three House bills on this subject that are worthy of your support. H.R. 265, the Drug Sentencing Reform and Cocaine Kingpin Trafficking Act of 2009, introduced by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), would eliminate the mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine, raise the crack quantity that triggers the five-year and ten-year mandatory minimums to the level of powder cocaine required to trigger the same sentences, and authorize funds for substance abuse treatment. H.R. 1459, the Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act of 2009, introduced by Congressman Robert “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.) would also treat crack and powder cocaine identically and eliminate mandatory minimums for cocaine offenses. H.R. 2178, the Crack-Cocaine Equitable Sentencing Act of 2009, introduced by Congressman Charles Rangel would eliminate the mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine and equalizes the crack and raise the crack quantity that triggers the five-year and ten-year mandatory minimums to the level of powder cocaine required to trigger the same sentences. Policy Arguments Supporting the Elimination of the 100- to-1 ratio The reasons for the policy have been debunked: Many of the assumptions used in determining the 100-to-1 ratio have been proven wrong by research. Numerous scientific and medical experts have determined that pharmacologically, crack cocaine is no more harmful than powder cocaine – the effect on users is the same no matter the form of the drug. Researchers have concluded that the negative effects of prenatal crack cocaine exposure are identical to the negative effects of prenatal powder cocaine exposure. Initially, the violence associated with the crack market fostered a perception that crack use instigated violent behavior in the individual user. The U.S. Sentencing Commission states that the violence associated with crack is primarily related to the drug trade and not to the effects of the drug itself, and that both powder and crack cocaine cause distribution-related violence, as do all drug markets. The Commission reported that for 2005 the frequency with which weapons are “accessible, possessed, or used by the offender” is extremely low, 0.8% of powder cases and 2.9% of crack cases. Cocaine is addictive in all forms and however ingested. We should focus more federal resources on providing drug treatment to addicts, including those whose involvement in drug dealing is caused by their addiction. Meanwhile, the effects of the policy have been detrimental. For example: The law exacerbates racial disparity in the federal prison system. Federal law enforcement’s focus on inner city communities has resulted in African Americans and Latinos being disproportionately impacted by the unreasonably harsh mandatory minimum cocaine penalties. In 2007, 82.7 % of those sentenced federally for crack cocaine offenses were black, despite the fact that only about 25% of crack cocaine users in the U.S. are African American. The law punishes small time users and dealers as or more harshly than drug kingpins. The mandatory minimum requires courts to sentence defendants based entirely on drug weight instead of culpability. The law has placed enormous burden on the prisons and on taxpayers. The crack cocaine sentencing policy puts too many in prison for too long a time. That combination has helped drive America’s over incarceration problem, putting pressure on federal prisons’ physical and economic resources. Today, the Bureau of Prisons houses nearly 40 percent more people than its facilities are designed to hold. If Congress were to eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine, we would save a minimum of over $26 million in the first year and nearly $530 million over the next fifteen years. The law misuses federal resources. States are capable of addressing small time users and dealers, but do not have the resources to fight large scale and international drug trafficking. The federal government is unique in its ability to address international traffickers and should use limited resources to do so. Recent Developments in federal crack cocaine law In May 2007 the United States Sentencing Commission voted to reduce the guideline sentences for crack cocaine by an average of 16 months, effective November 1, 2007. That change did not affect the 100-to-1 mandatory minimum law. In December 2007, after holding a hearing and receiving public comment from over 30,000 individuals and organizations, the Sentencing Commission voted unanimously to apply the reductions to the sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine offense that became effective November 1 retroactively so that an estimated 20,000 people serving crack cocaine sentences are eligible to seek reductions. People serving the mandatory minimum may not seek sentence reductions. In December 2007 the Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision in Kimbrough v. United States held that federal judges can sentence crack cocaine offenders below the federal sentencing guidelines, if they disagree with 100-to-1 disparity between crack and powder cocaine. This decision did not change the 100-to-1 mandatory minimum law. Fully 82 percent of people sentenced for crack cocaine in 2007 were subject to the mandatory minimums. Even with these developments, it is critical to remember these changes represent only incremental progress in the effort to reform the federal crack cocaine law. The Sentencing Commission’s guideline changes will not eliminate or even significantly alleviate the very long mandatory minimum sentences that many people are serving for crack cocaine offenses. Congress still must act in order to eliminate the statutory 100 to 1 disparity between crack and powder cocaine. It has been more than 20 years . . . 2009 is the time for Congress to act!!