Cracked Logic

Crack cocaine offenders will receive shorter prison sentences under more lenient federal sentencing guidelines that went into effect yesterday.

The United States Sentencing Commission, a government panel that recommends appropriate federal prison terms, estimated that the new guidelines would reduce the federal prison population by 3,800 in 15 years.

The new guidelines will reduce the average sentence for crack cocaine possession to 8 years 10 months from 10 years 1 month. At a sentencing commission hearing in Washington on Nov. 13, members will consider whether to apply the guidelines retroactively to an estimated 19,500 crack cocaine offenders who were sentenced under the earlier, stricter guidelines.

The changes to the original 1987 guidelines could also add impetus to three bills in the Senate, one sponsored by a Democrat and two by Republicans, that would reduce or eliminate mandatory minimums for simple drug possession.

What the hell? Crack is a dangerous drug that destroys lives, causes crime from junkies supporting their habit, and violent crime from people who are under the influence and out of reality. But there is no break for marijuana users? Marijuana is the #4 reason for arrests, and for a drug that is less mindbending than alchohol. If you want to clear prisons and put the focus where the danger is, turn marijuana only offenses out and let prosecution of the truly dangerous drugs go without interference.

I'm calling bullshit. There will be more about this by the weekend, where I will write a follow-up showing where the war on drugs has ran off the rails.