Drug Laws

Rep. Maxine Waters is at it again with the introduction of H. R. 1466: Major Drug Trafficking Prosecution Act of 2009. The purpose of the bill is to re-direct federal resources to tracking and prosecuting the big fish of the drug trade while easing some of the pressure on low level drug offenders. Currently, federal sentencing guidelines focus on drug weight and constricts the court's discretion in sentencing. 21 U.S.C 960(b) mandates harsh mandatory minimums based on drug weight and ties the hands of the court. The law was intended to create fairness in sentencing by tying sentence length directly to the seriousness of the offense. The innovation of crack cocaine inverted the result. A low level drug runner would receive a higher sentence than someone with a comparable or greater amount of cocaine because cocaine in crack form is heavier than cocaine in powder form.

The argument against Rep. Waters’s position is that the law should be changed, but not in the manner she proposes. Instead of removing mandatory minimum sentences Congress should alter the law to impose mandatory minimums equally based on street value instead of weight. By focusing on street value the disproportionality problem would be solved and the disincentives to bring narcotics into the U.S. would remain in place.

A third approach championed by libertarians, the extreme left and others is to end the War on Drugs because it needlessly impinges personal freedom and, more importantly, it cannot be won. The money spent on drug interdiction and prosecution is better spent elsewhere.