Mission Accomplished
Washington, D.C. - The Supreme Court has ruled that judges do have the option to impose shorter prison terms for crack cocaine crimes.
----Whether or not judges use the option is another matter. After 20 years of crack/cocaine law discrepancy and the racism and bigotry here in the Heartland I'm sure the local judges will not impose shorter prison sentences on Blacks ... well not without a large wad of cash slipped under the robe. And even if they choose to, a 15 year sentence rather than 22 years is not my idea of a big whoopie tee doo.
Mandatory sentencing, thanks to federal sentencing guidelines passed in the Anti-Drug Act of 1986, sponsored by Texas Democrat James Wright, with complicit get tough on crime congressional democrats, and again upping the "enhanced penalties" in the Anti-Drug Act of 1988 by a democratically controlled congress. And thanks to Bill Clinton continuing the era of stay tough on crime and hyping the fear of "super predators" which Anglo-America saw in Black faces, not white youth.
Oddly enough, and imagine my shock, when I realized that crack cocaine came into existence just a year or so before the law to punish it. Why, the ink was still wet on Jim Wright's drug bill when crack cocaine hit the ghettos.
Two generations of young Black males have been successfully hung up, into uneducated, unemployable felons (or obscene rap stars). But, remember folks – these men had choices.
On the other hand, even if caught with larger amounts of drugs - white meth heads, cocaine snorting presidents, prescription Rush junkies, preppy potheads, and celebrity addicts are still safe – they have no choice, they have some sort of "disease" which requires intervention/rehab rather than mass incarceration.
4 comments:
The sudden appearance of crack on the drug scene has always intrigued me. It seemed as though one day there was cocaine, and the next it was crack. Explanations given at the time were to the effect that it was the same stuff, only it was smoked instead of inhaled. This did not compute if one observed those under the influence and then subsequently and swiftly, addicted.
Make that smoked instead of snorted.
Kathy
I agree, the mental and physical differences in a coke head vs. crackhead are big, although initially the official "exspurts" claimed it was basically the same drug, but widely difference sentencing guidelines for the same drug ... Liars.
Crack - 1/2 cocaine powder and 1/2 baking soda cooked into rocks. Cheap, much cheaper than cocaine regular.
Cocaine takes 10-15 minutes for the high, crack 10-15 seconds - hits the brain much harder, absorbed much faster. Cocaine high last longer. Crack high only lasts a few minutes.
Some folks say a cocaine high is a polite rush while a crack high hits like a mack truck.
Cheap, easy to make, short-lasting high, and very addictive.
The story of where crack came from is generally attributed to the Cali cartel in Columbia. The cartel Reagan/Bush chased through the '80s. Don't believe that one though. The US drug czars blamed a lot of things on Pablo Escobar back then; we don't seem to have high profile drug lords since Nancy said just say no.
I guess they got that Cali/Medellin pipeline putting deposits in the right banks now.
Pardon the delay and thanks so much for your reply - it provided me with another insight into that era. When the big switch occured, I was living in the Bronx and working on Exchange Place (Wall St.), and I noticed that the coke problem of the suited ones did not turn into a crack habit as it did on the streets. It stands to reason that supply lines were divided and rerouted and profits maximized.
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