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The Department of Justice has adjusted a longstanding drug policy on crack.

Clay Cane
January 23, 2023

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos looks up during an interview on the sidelines of a Global Commission on Drug Policy presentation, in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022. Reforming drug policy in Colombia would involve taking a leap towards legal regulation of the coca leaf and cocaine, totally changing the paradigm in the country that produces the most coca in the world, suggests the Global Commission on Drug Policies in a report released Wednesday. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

This is Clay Cane

The Department of Justice has adjusted a longstanding drug policy on crack. In a memo, Attorney General Merrick Garland instructed federal prosecutors to end charging and sentencing disparities in cases involving crack and powder cocaine. Federal law enforcement policy for decades called for disproportionately higher punishment for crack offenders, who are predominantly Black. Supporters argue that the disparity is warranted because crack in smaller amounts is more addictive than powder cocaine. Activists warn the change could be temporary unless Congress passes legislation to permanently revise sentencing guidelines.

FILE – In this 1989 file photo, a razor blade is used to divide the contents of a five-dollar vile of crack, a smokable, purified form of cocaine, at a crack house in the South Bronx section of New York. Cocaine deaths have been rising, health officials said Thursday, May 2, 2019, in their latest report on the nation’s drug overdose epidemic. After several years of decline, overdose deaths involving cocaine began rising in 2013. And they jumped by more than a third between 2016 and 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

For AURN News, this is Clay Cane.

Clay Cane is an award-winning journalist, writer, radio host, and political commentator. A graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in African-American Studies, his work on race, culture, and politics have appeared in national publications, including the Washington Post, CNN, and The Grio. Clay is a regular political commentator on MSNBC. Twitter: @claycane