[Puppage]

But as a longtime thorn for the black community, the matter is important to a key Obama constituency. The quarter-century-old law that Congress changed with the new bill has subjected tens of thousands of blacks to long prison terms for crack cocaine convictions while giving far more lenient sentences to those, mainly whites, caught with powder.

I hardly know where to begin with this statement.

[walford]

So, will the sentences for crack be reduced or those for powder be increased? Let me guess....

[cardinal4]

That is because the sentences are determined by weight. Crack weighs more. The point? Don’t sell crack..

[pnh102]

As a disclaimer, I think there should be no anti-drug laws, but I still have to wonder, why is there such a disparity to begin with? Drugs are drugs.

[umgud]

If you can’t do the time, don’t sell the dime.

[southernnorthcarolina]

So, are coked-up stimulus monkeys in charge now?

[Atlas Sneezed]

A sop to his core constituency?

[worst-case scenario]

Here’s one way to begin.

Remember that that line is *ConnTVs interpretation* of the bill. Is it accurate? Well, it’s not like Obama did this by Executive Order. It’s a bill - it had to pass the House and the Senate. The GOP could have blocked it if they wanted to - or made it an issue if they agreed that it was a payoff to a black constituency. It had bipartisan support

The former sentencing disparity was 100-to-1. Now it’s 18-to-1. It’s still no bargain. It’s not retroactive. It applies only to *Federal* convictions.

The crack cocaine menace which terrified people in the 1980s had pretty much dissipated. People are apparently shooting H again, since the Afghanistan War has made it so available - not to mention meth.