Crack isn't as bad as we were told

Twenty years after Congress created harsh mandatory penalties for low-level crack cocaine offenses, and at a time of bipartisan support for sentencing reform, the United States Sentencing Commission revisited the controversy associated with crack and powder cocaine sentencing policy at a public hearing held November 14 in Washington, D.C...

Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Dr. Harolyn Belcher, professor at Johns Hopkins University, confirmed Briggs assertions that redirecting the focus of the drug war to treatment would reduce current levels of incarceration. Moreover, the differences in penalties for crack and powder were unwarranted because, according to Volkow, the two drugs have the same pharmacological effects.

Belcher also surprised Commissioners with data indicating that the long and short term health effects of alcohol or cigarettes on a fetus are more damaging than use of crack cocaine during pregnancy. The revelation is particularly striking given that much of the political will to enact the harsh crack sentencing law developed because of premature fears during the 1980s that babies born to crack addicted mothers would be disproportionately harmed. Belcher told Commissioners that these children are not at increased risk for learning disabilities. Commissioner Beryl Howell told Belcher she was "blown away" by this new information.

The biggest difference between crack and powder are the ways it is administered into the body. Most users prefer to smoke crack because it is the easiest way to intake and it produces an immediate high, much faster than injecting the substance. In response to questions, the medical panel stated that there is no evidence that crack, more than powder, promotes violent behavior. Cocaine can be associated with paranoid behavior which may lead to violent acts, but the likelihood of violent behavior is no greater with crack than powder.

OK, it's from The Sentencing Project, and it's clear where their sympathies are, but still, I'm inclined to accept the demonization of crack as another moral panic. And wonder how wrong the authorities are about other recreational drugs. Not that I advocate taking any.