It hardly qualifies as the kind of thoroughgoing reassessment of the
drug war that is really needed. But a recommendation from Attorney
General Janet Reno and drug "czar" Gen. Barry McCaffrey to reduce the
disparity in sentencing between those found in possession of powder
cocaine and crystal lized "crack" cocaine is a small step in the
direction of sanity.

The disparity has its roots in 1986, during the height of the crack epi
demic. Eager for any gesture that seemed tough on this new menace,Congress
included in a crime bill a provision requiring a mandatory, no parole sen
tence of five years for conviction of possession of five grams of crack co
cain. The five year sentence for powder cocaine was and is imposed at the
level of 500 grams.

That's a 100toone disparity for substances that are virtually
identical from a pharmacological perspective. A gram of powder
cocaine can be turned into about a gram of crack through a simple
process involving cooking it with baking soda and water. Some have
argued that crack,because it delivers the "high more quickly, is more
addictive, but scientific opinion is divided. Gen McCaffrey says the
substances are virtually identical by weight and "from a Drugabuse
per spective,1 to 1made more sense to me."

The Clinton administration said it was convinced by lawenforcement
people that some difference was required since the crack trade is
more violent.So the proposal is to change the law to require a
fiveyear sentence for possession of 25 grams of crack or 250 grams
of powder.

That's not especially rational or principled, but few decisions in
the drug war are. At least it's a recognition that the crack
sentencing law, conceived amid con gressional grand standing with
little reliance on facts, has had perverse effects.

One of them is the fact that, as of 1993, 92.6 percent of those
sentenced to the mandatory fiveyear crack sentence were
AfricanAmericans. That doesn't seem to have been the intention.But
for various reasonsprice,fashion,conveniencecrack seems more common
among AfricanAmericans,while the powder is used more often by whites.

The law should be changed whether that racial disparity existed or
not. Rather than thumping their chests and resisting this proposal,
the Republican Congress should let it pass and concentrate on its
core issues such as cutting taxes and reducing the size of
government.