Sarah Thiel an Kyla Linscott
Punishment for Powder Cocaine Users vs. Crack Cocaine Users.


It has been proven that the penalties for the possession of crack cocaine (more often used by black people) were much harsher than the penalties for a person possessing powder cocaine, (more often used by middle to upper class whites).

This effects people globally, because anyone has the ability to get a hold of these drugs.

This violates Article 7.

Article 7 states: All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act in August of 2010, which abolished the five year mandatory prison sentence for the possession of crack cocaine. In terms of weight, this new law also reduced the difference between powder and crack cocaine. The original powder to crack weight was 100 to 1 and it was lowered to 18 to 1 by the Fair Sentencing Act.

30 years before the Fair Sentencing Act, a person who was arrested for the possession of crack cocaine had bigger consequences than those who possessed powder cocaine. The person with the crack cocaine would face a minimum of five years in prison (mandatory) while a person using the powder cocaine would have to hold five hundred grams of powder cocaine to receive the same sentences.

I believe that the law is the same for everyone. Every person who posses powder and crack cocaine should have to have to pay the same consequences.