Cocaine

            Cocaine, especially crack cocaine, became prevalent in the mid-1980s and received massive media attention due in part to sudden deaths resulting from the use of cocaine. Cocaine powder is derived from coca paste, which is in turn derived from the leaves of the coca plant. Crack cocaine is made by taking cocaine powder and cooking it with baking soda and water until it forms a hard substance. These "rocks" can then be broken into pieces and sold in small quantities. Each gram of powder produces approximately .89 grams of crack. Crack was portrayed as a violence inducing, highly addictive drug mostly used in inner city areas. Due in part to the media's strong coverage, congress passed two mandatory minimum sentencing laws concerning crack cocaine. These laws that give harsher penalties to users of crack cocaine than to users of powder cocaine are extremely unfair.
             Defendants convicted of selling 500 grams of powder cocaine or five grams of crack cocaine receive five-year sentences. For five kilos of powder cocaine and 50 grams of crack, the penalty is 10 years. Thus there is a 100:1 ratio. These numbers are ridiculous, because of how easy and cheap it is to create crack. The sentences should not be that much different even if the effects of crack cocaine are more severe than powder cocaine.
             The psychotropic and physiological effects of all types of cocaine are the same, but the intensity and duration of the high differ according to the different forms of cocaine. Crack is always smoked and gives a fast, intense high. Powder cocaine is usually snorted, which gives a slower and less intense high. Some supporters of the law believe that crack is more likely to be abused because the high is short, which causes users to desire more of the drug. But when powder cocaine is injected it produces a fast, intense high similar to crack. This shows that the user can get the same reaction with either kind of cocaine.