The controversial Professor David Nutt is at it again, this time with a study ranking drugs, legal and illegal, by the harm they cause users and society. There are some surprises there.
The Marijuana Policy Project's executive director, Rob Kampia, reflects on advocating changes in marijuana policy in light of reductions in penalties with regard to crack cocaine and peyote. He says it's all about framing the issue.
Looking Backwards: Portland Police Chief James Craig
The House of Representatives Wednesday approved a bill that would reduce, but not eliminate, the sentencing disparity for federal crack and powder cocaine offenses. The measure had already passed the Senate, and it has the support of the White House, which means the bill will soon be a law.
After nearly a quarter-century of federal crack cocaine laws that disproportionately affected black Americans with far harsher sentences than for powder cocaine, the US Senate has passed a bill that would take a step toward eliminating that disparity. Advocates aren't sure whether to be pleased by the progress or disappointed by the ways in which it falls short.
On 27 April 2007, the US Sentencing Commission (USSC) voted to approve an amendment of the crack cocaine guidelines to lower applicable sentence ranges. In its press release (http://www.ussc.gov/PRESS/rel0407.htm), the USSC announced that a forthcoming report "will set forth current data and information that continue to support the Commission's consistently held position that the 100-to-1 crack-powder drug quantity ratio significantly undermines various congressional objectives set forth in the Sentencing Reform Act and elsewhere." The report has not been published as of this date. FedCURE will post the report as soon as it becomes available. You can check the USSC site at: http://www.ussc.gov.