The controversial Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 introduced mandatory minimum sentencing for drug possession and distribution (Alexander, 2010). Controversy did not rise from the idea of mandatory minimum sentencing, but rather the obvious racial bias which arose from the disparities between sentencing for cocaine and crack. This legislation created a five-year mandatory minimum for possession of five grams of crack cocaine, yet to receive that same five-year mandatory sentence, the law required five hundred grams of cocaine (Vagins & McCurdy, 2006). With traditional cocaine use typically associated with upper class whites and crack cocaine use associated
The controversial Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 introduced mandatory minimum sentencing for drug possession and distribution (Alexander, 2010). Controversy did not rise from the idea of mandatory minimum sentencing, but rather the obvious racial bias which arose from the disparities between sentencing for cocaine and crack. This legislation created a five-year mandatory minimum for possession of five grams of crack cocaine, yet to receive that same five-year mandatory sentence, the law required five hundred grams of cocaine (Vagins & McCurdy, 2006). With traditional cocaine use typically associated with upper class whites and crack cocaine use associated