End the Insanity in Drug Sentencing Laws

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to modify the draconian sentence for a convicted cocaine peddler sent a loud and resounding signal that the drug sentencing disparities have become a national embarrassment. The U.S. Sentencing Commission got the message and will reduce the blatantly racially tinged sentencing disparities between powdered and crack cocaine. But that’s not good enough. The Commission should go much further and put an end to the embarrassment by totally scrapping the sentencing disparity.

That disparity has wreaked havoc in mostly poor black communities, as well as cast an ugly glare on the failed and flawed war on drugs. Studies have shown that blacks make up nearly 90 percent of those sentenced in federal court for crack cocaine use and sale. Contrary to popular myth and drug warrior propaganda, more than half of crack users are white, and presumably a good portion of them are crack dealers as well.

The myths about who uses drugs, their danger, and the injustice in sentencing were amply exposed in a survey last June by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the sex and drug habits of Americans. The survey found that whites are much more likely to use drugs than blacks.

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