NOTE: I’m off working on a nice, juicy school scandal story that I’ll preview for you here later today. So check back. In the meantime…..
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When it comes to federal sentencing guidelines for cocaine-related drug crimes there’s a 100 to 1 ratio disparity between whether you’re caught with rocks or blow—although the two substances are pharmacologically identical.
For instance, someone just needs to possess 5 grams of crack versus 500 grams of powder to receive the same 5 year mandatory sentence.
As it happens, crack is primarily a lower income drug favored by drug abusers and sellers of color. Whereas, Powder cocaine is a higher income vice, with a user group that tends to be…well…whiter..
This week a coalition made up of The Sentencing Project, the ACLU, the Open Society Policy Center and the Drug Policy Alliance, have banded together in order to jump start a campaign called “It’s not Fair. It’s not working” in the hope of pushing for reforms in these sentencing inequities.
“These laws have had no impact on reducing the availability of drugs in our communities and have in fact diverted precious resources,” says Kara Gotsch of The Sentencing Project. “Possessing a quantity of drugs equivalent to 2 sugar packets should not send a person to prison for 5 years.”
SPEAKING OF: “IT’S NOT WORKING…”
If the truth be told, I’m for legalizing all of it—even poisons like coke, meth and heroin. (Hey, want to know how to get guns out of the hands of gang members? Remove the revenue source—illegal drug sales.) Specifically, I agree with these" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen> guys.
As one ex cop puts it, “Drug legalization isn’t about our drug problem. It’s about our crime and violence program. After we legalize drugs, we can start working on our drug problem.”
Celeste, you and the ex-cop don’t realize what you’re saying. To take it a notch further, you and he express more concern about crime levels than ruining the lives of millions of kids with deadly, but legal in your hopes, drugs.
Prohibition didn’t fail in its goals. It was given up because of opportunistic politicians. (Guess the source of the Kennedy wealth, courtesy of Roosevelt.) Prohibition saved a lot of families and a lot of people from the perils of alcoholism and wasted money.
Why, it almost sounds like, “Let’s give the drug criminals what they want and they’ll leave us alone.” Now, change “drug criminals” to “Islammic terrorists” and you can see how dangerous such a statement is and why it won’t work.
Now, if you want to address unequal sentences for essentially the same crimes, perhaps you’ll oppose “hate crime sentences,” which are in place and imposed on straight, white males.
BTW, wouldn’t a better picture at the top be one of someone who has used “crack cocaine” for years next to a person who has used “blow” for the same amount of time next to a healthy individual who has used neither? It wouldn’t present a very pretty picture compared to the nice white and clean image of a chemical. Human lives and the effect of drugs upon them are what is really important.
ADDICTION
The hotline 1-800-COCAINE survey of thousands of drug users discovered that:
1) People might snort cocaine for five years before becoming addicted.
2) Crack smokers report being hooked within two months.
“If you could only listen for an hour to callers telling how quickly their lives were ruined by crack, I doubt he would continue to claim that crack is only perceived to be more addictive. It is more addictive (then cocaine).â€Â
VIOLENCE
Cocaine in crack form makes users notoriously irritable and prone to violence. “In the first quarter of 1989, 76 per cent of all people arrested in New York City had cocaine in their urine, even though cocaine is quickly eliminated from the body.”
“A January 1990 survey of crack users by 800-COCAINE found that nearly 25 per cent admitted to committing a violent crime while under the influence of crack.”
LEGALIZATION
“Over three million people have called 800COCAINE, and many of them expressed that their greatest fear is getting a raise or even winning the lottery. They know that more money means more drugs and that more drugs threaten their very lives.”
Those favoring legalizing drugs argue that Prohibition failed to stop drinking.
“Prohibition reduced drinking by one-third, and produced a 64 per cent drop in deaths from cirrhosis and a 53 per cent drop in admissions to mental hospitals.”
(notes from founder of the 800-COCAINE hotline)
Well I guess we’ve seen everything. So Woody thinks that Prohibition met all its “Goals” eh? I guess that’s true if your goal was a national crime syndicate. Still it would be fun to see “Jack and Charlie’s” (the “21”) revert to its speakeasy origins. Did alcoholism drop? Sure. Was it worth the cost? Woody thinks so. Nobody else does though – unless your last name is Capone or Costello or Luciano.
Still I encourage our Georgia Peach to advocate his new position. It goes so well with the rest of his nonsense.
rlc: So Woody thinks that Prohibition met all its “Goals†eh?
Did I say that? Where? I appears that lrc is being dishonest, which makes him a Democrat.
rlc Was it worth the cost?
Compared to what…the crime and disease that occurs when it is legal?
I’d say more, but I’m tryin to pass another kidney stone and the pain is killing me. It has five hours to pass or I’m going to emergency room–not the “free” one, so I’ll get treated immediately.
Yikes, Woody. I hope you’re speaking metaphorically. If not, good luck, and stay safe.
In California, and now in many other U.S. States, Crack Cocaine powdered or base is the least of LE or a community’s headaches. Meth is not only replacing these ex-cocaine users but new users are exploding in scary numbers. To make the matter worst, its connected to identity theft, burglaries, robberies, and any type of property crime you can imagine. A couple of years back, tweakers were even stealing small house pets, preferable dogs, just to score a 16th baggie for about twenty-five bucks. This drug and its connected property crimes is becoming a no joke situation these days. The avearge user of meth is spending, give or take, $3000 monthly. Where do you think he/she gets her money to buy the dope? You guess it, YOU! With the pre-cursors being restricted at the local drug store, the meth price scale is surpassing coke in tri-folds. Its becoming the mexican cartels favorite money makeing drug. I was in Tia-Juana about 3 months ago and saw barrels and barrels of methamphetamine being rolled out and confiscated from three different super lab houses. Mexico has pounds in the thousands just sitting in barrels on mexican side of the border. Their communities are going to shit too. Once crossed over to the U.S. side you can imagine the price skyrocketing. The traditional users and makers are now having to bow down to mexican connected sources. The price for tweak will go up so high and cause so many more property crimes it will eventually affect everyone whether you like it or not.
On the issue of crack vs. cocaine, here is my take on that….
Everyone knows that cocaine powder is for a higher class of people. Its prices are regulated by its user’s intake and according to their individual lifestyle. You cant fool them on the amount being bought or sold and vis-vesa. Plus, I find powder cocaine to be a functioning drug like alcoholism. Ive found numerous cases were addicts use powder cocaine and are adamant that its only for a weekend party thing. Which we all know its a bullshit excuse for a drug addicted person.
Now in terms of rock cocaine, rock can be more than tripled in profit on the added ingredients. Ive seen people add the typical stuff like baking soda and alcohol to triple the waffles that will be retrieve at the end of the cooking process. Now, if you really want to get richer….people add whatever crosses their mind. If they can make it stronger, the user can get more for the bang and the seller more for the buck. Ive heard guys even put rat posion or take a long piss in kitchen pan while cooking.
Once you got your rock, you can fill one camera canister for a little over $1000.00 worth of rock. Depending on how good you are at cooking it and adding bullshit ingredients, your profit can be around $700-800, unless your exchanging sex or stolen items on a case by case situation. Not bad for a low life seller. Now here is the catch, you can sell any size rock for the amount that its size represents. Lets say a crack head buys a $20. A 20 will be broken down in two to four pieces to break off a brother from another mother that kicked in chump change of $5 or $10. To end my conclusion, rock is made and sold in low income areas that are usually gang infested and creates congregation eye sores. Race may play a second or third role but not the primary reason for the harsh sentencing. You can tour other parts of the U.S. and find whites smoking up rock and p-dogs as much as the brothers in South Central LA, Compton, or the Rampart Area. If you want to improve the quality of life in a certain area, rock needs a hasher jail sentence. This Prop. 36 program is not working and the research is showing what LE experts and experience researchers have been saying. Judges are allowing users to walk out of their court rooms just to commit more property crimes and prey on hard working citizens. A slap in the hand therapy. California needs more prison point blank, ones that will not only focus on confinement but rehab sessions like the LA Sheriff’s Impact program in Century Jail with the continued rule of gang members and violent offenders excluded.
sorry for the errors, writing this stuff while holding a baby takes some crazy skills.
Poplock, if you can write all of this good stuff, keep your train of thought, while holding a baby, you’re entitled to as many errors as you care to make. Your perspective is valuable. If this site had a “favorites” tag, I’d be flagging it on about everything you contribute. Thanks for being ‘here.’
Celeste, no, it’s real…in fact, my fourteenth kindey stone. I live in what is called the “kidney stone belt.” I figure that they come from the lack of alcohol and nicotine. The medicine that the ER gave me is synthetic heroin. Really. So, if someone wants some drugs really badly, just get kidney stones.
I agree with Listener, Poplock, excellent treatise on meth and coke—and all done while cuddling a baby. Impressive!
(When my son was a baby, I was lucky to get a full coherent sentence out. I still wrote for a living. But not terribly well for a while there. Certain days, I was convinced my brains were leaking out with my breast milk.)
(For the modest among you, sorry ’bout that. But there you have it.)
How old is this person, by the way. Boy or girl?
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Woody, glad you’re okay. Well, then for god’s sake, start smoking and drinking (cigars, not cigarettes, of course)!
The cure seems so obvious!
Thanks for the kudos sidelines and Ms. Fremon! I am just happy that there is a good LA blog that respects all sides, views, and personal opinions. At least this blog is looking for solutions and answers.
I would visit the blog, “inthehat” and review the theme headline and its contents, realizing that the moderator was actually stealing information for his own personal montetary gains with writing a book. This guy Wally or T. Rafael is using his blog to create a social panic on racial hate of Brown vs. Blacks in LA. I dont the guy personally, but I have nothing good to say on his so-called research. Now I’m starting to hear him on talk radio promoting his views and book. Instead of trying to find solutions for LA gang issues, he is throwing fuel in the fire and creating fictious conclusions.
Just to add on the Prop. Program, I’ve talked to a couple of Judges in LA Superior and they now almost all agree on my past frustrations. I dont blame the Judges, I blame the State for porking out the money for every individual that qualifies for this court drug program. I just cant believe that the State allows parolees to qualify for Prop. 36. Total idiots! First of all, a parolee left CDC leaving California taxpayers with an outstanding balance for incarceration costs. He/she is on Parole, commits a new drug offense (sometimes involving non-drug offenses that were dropped as a bargaining chip) and is allowed to qualify for prop 36. A sophisticated career criminal just being allowed to do what he does best-getting away with whatever he can. You know as part a Parole’s release, they should add the conditions of not owning/possessing a computer, internet, credit cards, or checking accounts.
Everyone knows that drug addiction is an individual choice and an individual choice to stop.
So,
Why do taxpayers have to pay for drug programs that were a result of committing a new crime with violating parole or probation??? Does the State care more for a criminal that is stealing our shit and then provides drug counseling or the voting taxpayers???? The taxpayer is getting hit on all sides on this one.
The baby
Two Month+ old girl hitting 13 pounds and sleeping quietly.:)
The baby naps, Dad taps, and we benefit. It’s a pretty good deal.