It's About Time

Yesterday the Supreme Court made one of its better decisions in a while. It decided that the sentencing for crack - vs- powder cocaine just wasn't right. It's about time someone finally realized that. One of the things that one comes to realize when one works in the addictions field is that at least some of the drug policies we seek to enact and enforce are purely political in their scope. This was one of those.

We usually do things out of fear and incomplete information. Back in the 1980s there was this "sudden" upsurge of crack addiction. Remember the "crack babies" from addicted mothers. It looked like a truly out-of-control problem. It looked (to some) as much, much, much worse than just regular old powder cocaine. We heard scary stories about how much more addictive it was to use crack. We heard about the far greater violence it provoked. We envisioned battles and deaths from guns or the addiction.

So they made the penalties for crack far stricter than for cocaine itself. In some places as much as 10 times greater- and then they made mandatory minimums and the rest is history.

Well, we know now that crack is not any more addictive than cocaine- both are quite addicting. We know that the crack epidemic never happened- and not because of increased enforcement. We also know that it is no harder (and no easier) to break the addiction to crack than it is to powder.

If any of this sounds vaguely familiar, it should. We have just been in the midst of another politics-based hysteria over a powerful and addictive drug- meth. You would think that meth was just invented in the past few years and that no one used it before that. The truth is meth in its various forms has been around for probably three-quarters of a century.

And, no, it is not any more difficult (or any easier) to break the meth habit than it is for any other addictive substance. In fact some, like nicotine are often considered more difficult. The issue with meth- and it IS a real issue- has been the local homemade labs that become toxic waste dumps, expose many people to the extremely toxic effects, and put many children in hazardous situations if their parents are the ones making it.

But the top drugs of abuse- BY FAR AND AWAY- are still alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Meth- on a national level- is behind those and cocaine, and prescriptions. Yes, in some areas of the country it is quite significant, but it never takes over the top spots. Ain't gonna happen!

But at least for the moment some responsible sanity and non-punitive, non-hysterical approaches may come through as a result of the Supreme Court's decision. Let's at least hope so.

----MORE: This came from today's news:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to allow some 19,500 federal prison inmates, most of them black, to seek reductions in their crack cocaine sentences.

I didn't mention the politics that some feel are behind the old sentencing. You will find the answer not so hidden in the italicized parenthetical expression in that news item.
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And an Update:
The pmPilgrim photoBlog is back posting. The recent moving caused me to miss a few weeks. There's only so much energy left at times like that. But it's now back. I hope to do some new things there with some more meddling and fiddling with Paint Shop Pro in the coming year.