Foreword
In 1986, the U.S. Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act,which mandated sentences for trafficking in crack cocaine that weresignificantly harsher than for infractions involving similar amounts of powdercocaine. The following year, the U.S. Sentencing Commission issued specificguidelines that included a 100:1 or greater ratio between crack and powderpenalties. In other words, a conviction of possession of 5 grams of cracklanded a person in jail for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years; it took500 grams of powder cocaine to yield a similar sentence. To some,the higher sentence for crack possession was a rational response to a potentdrug that was…
