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 OneMoreRobot3021
punky jewster
Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 56,599
Loc: new york shitty
Last seen: 5 hours, 13 minutes
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 Joe Biden Introduces Crack-Cocaine Bill
#7131624 - 07/05/07 08:40 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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http://www.reason.com/blog/show/121158.html
In a press release that does not seem to be available online, the American Civil Liberties Union praises Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), historically one of the most gung-ho drug warriors in the Democratic Party, for introducing a bill that would eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack and cocaine powder. Previous proposals would have merely reduced the disparity, in some cases by making cocaine powder sentences more severe. By contrast, Biden's bill would raises the amount of crack that triggers a five-year mandatory minimum sentence to 500 grams, the same as the amount for cocaine powder. Biden announced his plan last week:
Quote:
http://biden.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=277776&
The current sentencing disparity between the two forms of cocaine is based on false notions and old logic. The bottom line is that there is no scientific justification for any disparity. Crack and powder are simply two forms of the same drug, and each form produces identical effects. I will soon be introducing legislation that eliminates the sentencing disparity completely, fixing this injustice once and for all.
Coming from a man whose drug war credentials include authoring the RAVE Act and creating ONDCP, this is an exciting surprise. While many consider fixing the crack/powder sentencing disparity a no-brainer, reducing federal drug sentences is certainly a bold move for Biden.
He's running for president right now, so Biden's willingness to challenge a drug war injustice suggests a shifting perception of the political implications of U.S. drug policy. As obviously flawed as the sentencing disparity is, it's not really that much more palatable than any number of other issues we're working on. If Biden can recognize this problem, there's much more he could potentially come to understand.
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The Drug Policy Alliance  Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
"The psychedelic experience - it has a tremendous force to revivify the spirit, particularly because it is not an ideology. It is not something someone 'figured out.' It is an EXPERIENCE. And this is important to bear in mind." - McKenna.
"We're not mad, we're just doing what we want. You rigid thinkers can't recognize the healthy sanity of that." - Harlan Ellison, "Crackpots"
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Economist
in training
Registered: 10/11/05
Posts: 1,285
Last seen: 1 year, 3 months
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Quote:
OneLessForeskin said:
He's running for president right now, so Biden's willingness to challenge a drug war injustice suggests a shifting perception of the political implications of U.S. drug policy. As obviously flawed as the sentencing disparity is, it's not really that much more palatable than any number of other issues we're working on. If Biden can recognize this problem, there's much more he could potentially come to understand.
I really hope you're right, but the pragmatist in me suggests that this is just Biden's attempt to win back the African-American vote, as the African American community's position on the sentancing disparity is fairly clear, and Biden probably lost most African American votes after this.
I hope I'm wrong, but it seems unlikely (to me) that a gung-ho drug warrior would suddenly change his views this radically unless it was to try and artificially win back lost votes.
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OneMoreRobot3021
punky jewster
Registered: 06/06/03
Posts: 56,599
Loc: new york shitty
Last seen: 5 hours, 13 minutes
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 Re: Joe Biden Introduces Crack-Cocaine Bill [Re: Economist]
#7132123 - 07/05/07 11:25 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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I just want to make it clear that I didn't write a word of the original post, it was all lifted from the included link. 
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The Drug Policy Alliance Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
"The psychedelic experience - it has a tremendous force to revivify the spirit, particularly because it is not an ideology. It is not something someone 'figured out.' It is an EXPERIENCE. And this is important to bear in mind." - McKenna.
"We're not mad, we're just doing what we want. You rigid thinkers can't recognize the healthy sanity of that." - Harlan Ellison, "Crackpots"
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