The mistakes of the war on drugs

Barbara Tate
Published: June 17, 2008

Twenty two years ago this week, Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose. His death stunned the sports world and left an indelible mark on our justice system. In the months following his death, Congress
passed harsh new mandatory minimum drug laws that set a 100:1 disparity between the amount of crack cocaine and powder cocaine that trigger the same five-year mandatory prison sentence.

The result:One-size-fits-all sentencing, regardless of an individual’s role in the case, punishing low-level drug users and dealers the same or worse than the drug kingpins mandatory sentences were
intended to catch. Also, crack-cocaine offenders serve sentences up to eight times longer than those sentenced for powder cocaine; and, African-Americans account for 80 percent of those serving time
for crack offenses even though they make up less than 1/3 of crack cocaine users.

By continuing to lock away first time and nonviolent crack cocaine offenders for extraordinarily long sentences instead of treating the problem, we are repeating the mistake, not the lesson, of Len Bias’
story.

We are repeating a tale of lost promise.

In recent months, we have seen a new effort among the courts, the public and even among some of our politicians to rewrite the ending for these prisoners What is Congress waiting for?

BARBARA TATE

Woodbridge