There are many drug offenses that carry severe penalties.  The types of jail time range depending on the drug, the amount, previous convictions and other factors.  However, Attorney General Eric Holder is seeking to reduce penalties for those convicted of crack-cocaine charges.  Not only does he want to reduce penalties, he wants them to be applied retroactively.

During a hearing of the U.S. Sentencing Commission Mr. Holder stated that the Obama administration believed the sentences were too strict and that those “who are not considered dangerous drug offenders,” should get the benefit of the new standards.  Under the current law, a defendant faced a minimum of 5 years if convicted of possession at least 5 grams of crack .  Previously, the reasoning for the harsher sentence was based upon studies that crack cocaine is more addictive .

Currently there are 12,040 offenders that would be eligible to seek a reduction in their sentence.  Roughly 4,000 offenders would be eligible for release by November 1, 2012.  The overall average sentence would be reduced from 164 months to 127 months.  The latest law would require 28 grams of crack cocaine for a 5 year sentence.  Additionally, to receive a 10 year sentence, a person would need to have 280 grams of crack cocaine .  The punishment for powder cocaine would be the same, five years for 500 grams, and 10 years for 5,000 grams.

However, some in law enforcement believe that letting out those who have already been incarcerated would pose problems to the communities from which they are from.  David Hiller, the national vice president of the nation’s largest law-enforcement labor organization, said that most offenders who would be eligible for earlier release were not first-time or low-level dealers.  Representative Sheila Jackson Lee said that she thinks “this is a correction long overdue.”  That people eligible to seek reduced sentences were nonviolent offenders, many of whom were addicted and in need of rehabilitation.

What do you think?  Should crack cocaine offenders be punished more severely than power cocaine?

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