Crack cocaine

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…

Critical Evaluation The so called “War on Drugs”, catalyzed by the emergence of crack cocaine, resulted in the mass incarceration of nearly one million individuals in the years between 1980 to 1996. In the decades following Ronald Reagan’s actions on substance abuse, communities around the United States experienced a dramatic increase in illegal drug persecution. However, the effects of the drug war were not felt evenly, as communities of ethnic and racial minorities suffered the worst of the…

Crack cocaine and heroin was a epidemic, it increased street crime, child abuse, and spousal abuse. One of the biggest reason why these two drugs basically infested street crime was because the street level of crime is committed by drug gangs or by dependent drug users. They do certain things in order to support their habits. Street crimes relating to drugs can occur in any part of the U.S’ wealthy or poor. The book mentioned that “Cities with high unemployment, especially youth unemployment,…

prisoners in our country. Even during 1982 when President Reagan officially called for a war on drugs, drug crime was on the decline. Many people think that the decision was based upon the introduction of crack cocaine and its extensive popularity in inner cities, although in reality the crack epidemic came after Reagans announcement of the “war.” Early on in the ordeal, there was a minimum sentencing placed on people who possessed drugs, punishing not a crime but a disease: addiction. Even…

Crack vs Powder Cocaine: Unjust Prison Sentences of Two Races For decades the United States has experienced an imbalance sentencing problem between African Americans and White Americans who use crack cocaine and powder cocaine respectively. Although both of these drugs are similar to one another, African Americans have been incarcerated more often than White Americans. According to the NAACP, from 1980 to 2008, the number of prisoners in America increased from about 500,000 to 2.3 million.…

Referral/Presenting Problem Melvin has self-referred for what he describes as obsessive behaviors. He finds himself falling into habitual and socially abnormal routines that at times are obsessive. Examples include avoidance stepping on lines and cracks, using utensils at a restaurant, and sitting in the same place in particular locations. He notes that these problems have been on going for several years. He states that he would like some freedom from his routine as the need…

in federal crack cocaine sentences is examining two levels of the American criminal system that is unjust for many. It was in 2007 when the U.S. Sentencing Commission, after “lobbying Congress in vain for ten years to remedy the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses” (Kosman 786), successfully added a ‘crack amendment’ to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The amendment attempted to decrease the sentences of some defendants who had been convicted of crack cocaine…

was premature. The year of 1983 was a time that was hard for most people,many people were struggling and and some were just out of it. Mainly because there was a drug currently popular called crack cocaine. Many people used it so it was hard not to see traumatic things in your everyday life. She would see crack needles and broken beer bottles on the ground so they had to be very careful when playing outside. There were so many things happening and she had been born into it. Her neighborhood…

America. The Crack epidemic stands out as one of the most popular drug use crisis in the history of America. This epidemic exposed the hidden decay in the American society and the vulnerability of the society to harmful drugs. Furthermore, the epidemic exposed the weakness…

According to,(), the U.S. government saw crack cocaine being used mainly by lower class African Americans and they used their power to punish them although crack cocaine is the same as powder cocaine just in rock form. The punishment for crack cocaine became 100-1 in regards to the sentence for powder. They government also made a mandatory sentence for crack users which caused the incarceration rates to skyrocket. Multiple judges did not agree with…