# Crack Cocaine vs Powder Cocaine distinction in our laws is a terrible policy **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 15, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810 "2008-11-15T03:40:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/21 "2008-11-15T19:38:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I stand corrected, then. If it’s not stronger, then why is it more popular among low-income users? It’s cheaper. Not sure why. There must be a leveraged affect of the additional chemicals because it woudn’t make sense to spend the time manipulating cocaine in order to sell it cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/22 "2008-11-15T20:05:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I stand corrected, then. If it’s not stronger, then why is it more popular among low-income users? Because it’s cheaper. The statistics I read were for some particular east-coast city in the early 1990’s, but it went like this: powdered cocaine is roughly $1000 an ounce. From this, you can combine it with baking soda and create about 1000 vials of crack, which you can sell for $5 each. So simply by converting expensive powdered cocaine into crack, the dealer can make $4000, and greatly expand the pool of users who are able to buy their product, since most anybody can beg, borrow, or steal enough to come up with $5. The downside, of course, is that there’s not very much cocaine in your five bucks worth of crack. But since you’re smoking it, it gets to your brain about as fast as possible, so you get an intense high. Of course, then it only lasts for twenty or thirty seconds. I never understood why somebody would use crack since the effects, though intense, don’t last long. But heck, I don’t see why people still use cocaine at all, since amphetamines are available. From what I understand, their effects last hours instead of minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/23 "2008-11-15T20:10:50Z")
As the Ninth Circuit said back in 1992: > [@](#): > > Congress’s decision to punish the sale of crack more severely than the sale of powder cocaine was based on a broad and legitimate basis. Although crack and powder cocaine are different forms of the same drug, the routes of administration, their physiological and psychological effects, and the manner in which they are sold set the two forms of the drug apart. Crack is normally smoked in a glass pipe, while powder cocaine is most often ingested nasally. Because it is smoked, crack has a quicker and more intense effect on the brain than powder cocaine ingested nasally, causing a greater desire for more. Crack is also sold in smaller quantities and lower unit prices than powder cocaine, thereby reducing the financial barrier which had previously limited cocaine usage. > . > . > . > In short, crack offers an easy, relatively inexpensive, and potent means for first-time users as well as addicts to experience a temporary high which leaves them craving more. (citations omitted). While powder cocaine was the drug of choice for the affluent, crack has brought cocaine to the streets, catering to the habits of both rich and poor in epidemic proportions. The extent of this epidemic can be demonstrated by the development among police forces of special anticrack units. For example, “[t]he special anticrack unit is unique in the [New York Police Department] since its formation marks the first time that one command has been designated to deal with one particular drug.” . > . > . > . > Congress made a rational decision based on evidence offered at the Crack Hearings that the possession with intent to sell fifty grams of crack should be the level at which one is deemed to be a “manager,” while the same level for powder cocaine, carried and sold in larger quantities, should be five kilograms. . > . > . > . > If the extent of the problem posed by the sale of crack and the need for more severe penalties than for powder cocaine are not clearly evident, these issues are at least highly debatable. This is enough to prevent invalidation of the statutory classification. From _US v. Harding_, 971 F.2d 410 (1992). The opinion goes on to point out that every federal circuit considering the issue reached a similar decision. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/24 "2008-11-15T22:10:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Because it’s cheaper. The statistics I read were for some particular east-coast city in the early 1990’s, but it went like this: powdered cocaine is roughly $1000 an ounce. From this, you can combine it with baking soda and create about 1000 vials of crack, which you can sell for $5 each. So simply by converting expensive powdered cocaine into crack, the dealer can make $4000, and greatly expand the pool of users who are able to buy their product, since most anybody can beg, borrow, or steal enough to come up with $5. So a single dose of crack has less kick than 1/1000 of an ounce of powdered cocaine? That doesn’t make sense to me. What am I missing, here? ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/25 "2008-11-16T17:51:56Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > As the Ninth Circuit said back in 1992: > > From _US v. Harding_, 971 F.2d 410 (1992). The opinion goes on to point out that every federal circuit considering the issue reached a similar decision. “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread..” -Anatole France ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/26 "2008-11-16T18:04:19Z")
> [@erislover](#): > > Making drug use illegal is a terrible policy. This is just the tip of the iceburg. Yes, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/27 "2008-11-16T18:09:26Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread..” -Anatole France The law also forbids rich and poor alike from insider trading, bid rigging, price fixing, grading land without a permit, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/28 "2008-11-16T18:33:33Z")
> [@neutron\_star](#): > > Out of curiosity, what would be the reason for using cocaine - with the stigma that comes with it - over some other topical? Why does anybody use it at all? Cocaine gives longer lasting anesthesia than most of the other topical 'caines. However, that can be made up for by adding epinephrine to the lidocaine, to prolong its effects. Cocaine also gives more powerful decongestion than most other topicals. Cocaine is also used in a mix with tetracaine and epinephrine to make a topical anesthetic for regular skin, thus numbing it without injection, prior to suturing wounds. Cocaine is also a component of Brompton’s Cocktail, which also contains Morphine and Alcohol (whee!). It’s used as an anagesic/stimulant for terminally ill patients, relieving their pain with less sedation. It is an impressive pharmaceutical, with its ability to decongest, anesthetize, and stimulate the central nervous system all at once. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/29 "2008-11-16T18:38:12Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It is an impressive pharmaceutical, with its ability to decongest, anesthetize, and stimulate the central nervous system all at once. How much legal powder cocaine is dispensed in this country in a year? ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/30 "2008-11-16T18:40:34Z")
> [@Ninth Circuit](#): > > Crack is also sold in smaller quantities and lower unit prices than powder cocaine, thereby reducing the financial barrier which had previously limited cocaine usage. So… since poor people can actually afford it, the poor crack users deserve to be punished more harshly than the rich powder cocaine users? Seems kind of like circular reasoning to me. What also makes this especially egregious is that a drug supplier who is higher up the supply chain is actually going to get punished less than a dealer lower on the supply chain, because the latter has mixed the powder with baking soda in order to sell it on the street. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/31 "2008-11-16T19:07:35Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Expensive cocaine doesn’t devastate affluent communities, but apparently crack can devastate poor communities so I don’t see it as a racial issue at all. We’re doing what we can to save poor communities. > > It’s only racism if it’s based solely on race. If race just happens to be coincidental, too fucking bad. Police targeting of crack is concentrated on black communities even though it is as great a problem in white communites. That makes it racial. In fact, your response is pretty much the hallmark of institutional racism: there is no overt effort to inflict more harm on the black community, however policies are pursued that will have a greater negative impact on the black community than the white community and the response is that it is just tough luck. Equal enforcement would require more effort, so it is just “bad luck” that the police go looking to find black users and dealers more than white users and dealers even though white offenders greatly outnumber black offenders. Human Rights Watch documented this about ten years ago and the situation has not changed in the ensuing years: [RACIALLY DISPROPORTIONATE DRUG ARRESTS](http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:nlEwKBv2kk8J:www.hrw.org/reports/2000/usa/Rcedrg00-05.htm&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us) The initial reports of rising crime and violence trace back to the earliest years following the introduction of crack when there was a new market and, hence, more turf wars over distribution. The numbers have remained stable for over a decade, now, yet the police have not changed their tactics to address the wider issue, finding it easier to target the black community. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/32 "2008-11-16T19:25:21Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Police targeting of crack is concentrated on black communities even though it is as great a problem in white communites. Do you happen to have a cite for your claim that crack cocaine “is as great a problem in white communities”? Anyway, if I wanted to purchase some crack cocaine, I know where I would go and it would not be to the Upper West Side. No, I would go to Harlem or Bed Stuy or Newark. Lol. I guess that’s because the racist police are indifferent to the drug dealing that takes place in black neighborhoods. Those _&^_ racists!! Maybe they should come in and bust all those drug dealers and lock them up. But wait a sec – then their conduct would disproportionately impact black people. Those \*&^% racists!!! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/33 "2008-11-16T19:45:34Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > How much legal powder cocaine is dispensed in this country in a year? No idea. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/34 "2008-11-16T19:48:35Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Police targeting of crack is concentrated on black communities even though it is as great a problem in white communites. That makes it racial. Even assuming this is correct, which I doubt, wouldn’t that easily be explained by the fact the poor blacks tend to live in inner cities and poor whites in more rural communities? If you identified Crack as this evil and wanted to stop it, wouldn’t you expend your limited resource where there is more concentrated (geographically) use? As far as your general claim of racism. I’m pretty sure that more whites than blacks are busted in relation to crystal meth labs. Is that, then, also indicative of racism? My take is that crack is more destructive to communities than ordinary coke, and therefore is treated more harshly. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/35 "2008-11-16T19:50:07Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > The law also forbids rich and poor alike from insider trading, bid rigging, price fixing, grading land without a permit, etc. Excellent response to a tired old saw that is regurgitated way to often around here. ---
**Author:** ![daksya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dc4da7/32.png) [@daksya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daksya)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/36 "2008-11-16T20:17:01Z")
Crack and powder cocaine are not pharmacologically identical. The ligand at the receptor(s) may be identical molecules, but due to the route of administration and subsequent metabolic journey, their effects aren’t the same. Powder takes 14 minutes, on average, to achieve peak effect, whereas crack takes 90 seconds. The latter is also associated with greater dependence liability and more severe dependence at that. That said, there’s a distinction to be made here. Although I prefer a legal but regulated drug regime, crack ought to have harsher punishment than powder cocaine, if there’s to be penalties for drug possession. The issue is that the disparity enacted in the 80s is _excessive_ and implicitly racially motivated based on the demographics of crack use, not that there is a disparity. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/37 "2008-11-16T20:17:31Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Even assuming this is correct, which I doubt, wouldn’t that easily be explained by the fact the poor blacks tend to live in inner cities and poor whites in more rural communities? If you identified Crack as this evil and wanted to stop it, wouldn’t you expend your limited resource where there is more concentrated (geographically) use? So even though more whites than blacks are being harmed by the drug, the police are justified in exerting far more energy where the pickings are easier rather than where they will do the most good? > [@magellan01](#): > > As far as your general claim of racism. I’m pretty sure that more whites than blacks are busted in relation to crystal meth labs. Is that, then, also indicative of racism? Why would it be? More whites than blacks (numerically rather than as a percentage) are involved with both drugs. On the other hand, there is no evidence that the police specifically target white communities looking for meth as they do black communities looking for crack. > [@magellan01](#): > > My take is that crack is more destructive to communities than ordinary coke, and therefore is treated more harshly. Your take appears to be based on the anecdotes that made it into circulation between 1985 and 1992 in which crack was blamed for all sorts of problems based on fresh drug wars among distributors. The increase in crack use flatlined in the early 1990s and the drug distributor turfs stabilized around the same time so that the claim that crack, in and of itself, harms specific communities disproportionately appears to be about 15 years out of date, yet the drug enforcement folks continue to rely on the outdated argument to rationalize their behavior. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/38 "2008-11-16T20:20:45Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > Do you happen to have a cite for your claim that crack cocaine “is as great a problem in white communities”? My very first post and its link. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/39 "2008-11-16T20:25:00Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > How much legal powder cocaine is dispensed in this country in a year? [Stupidquestion.com](http://Stupidquestion.com) had an article claiming that [Peru sold 1.49 tons for medical use in 1988](http://archives.stupidquestion.net/sq11900.html), half of which (~1500 lbs.) came to the U.S. I have no idea how accurate or current the information might be. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810/40 "2008-11-16T20:35:20Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > My very first post and its link. Would you mind quoting the part which you believe supports your claim that crack cocaine “is as great a problem in white communities”? Because I couldn’t find it. Thanks. Also, do you have any explanation for the (apparent) fact that it’s much easier to wander into a black neighborhood in a big city and buy crack than it is to do the same in a white neighborhood? Is my impression just plain wrong? I kinda doubt it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crack-cocaine-vs-powder-cocaine-distinction-in-our-laws-is-a-terrible-policy/472810.md?page=3)