RENO: CRACK, POWDER COCAINE SENTENCES TOO FAR APART

From: The Columbian (Vancouver, WA) | Date: July 22, 1997| Author: | Copyright information

WILL LESTER
The Columbian
07-22-1997
MIAMI -- Getting caught with 5 grams of crack cocaine warrants a minimum five years in prison by current federal law. To get that much time for powder cocaine, a person would have to be caught with at least 500 grams.
Attorney General Janet Reno has recommended narrowing that 100-fold disparity, and in doing so has waded into controversial waters.
Critics of the disparity say it is unfair to blacks, who are more likely to smoke the cheaper crack, which they say is no more powerful a drug than powder cocaine. But others charge crack is far more ...

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