The new Democrat-majority Congress will consider proposed legislation that has been introduced in an attempt to eliminate the sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine offenses. Currently, although they are the same drug in two different dosage forms, mandatory minimum sentences in the federal law require significantly longer punishments for offenses involving crack cocaine than for the same offenses related to powder cocaine.

H.R. 460, the Crack-Cocaine Equitable Sentencing Act of 2007, sponsored by Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), would: 1) Amend the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to make sentencing requirements for trafficking in, possession, importation, or distribution of crack cocaine the same as those for powder cocaine-related offenses. 2) Make an individual’s first offense for possession of crack cocaine exempt from the existing federal mandatory minimum sentencing structure. 3) Require that the United States Sentencing Commission amend the Sentencing Guidelines to reflect these changes after this legislation is signed into law. Congressman Rangel first introduced legislation to remove the distinction between sentencing for powder and crack cocaine in 1993 and has introduced similar legislation in each consecutive Congressional session. Those who support eliminating the current disparities have argued that the inequity in sentences has had an extremely severe and disproportionate impact on communities of color and on low-income individuals.