- Legal EditorHenry Dahut, J.D.
Henry Dahut, J.D.
Attorney - Legal Publisher - Educator
Henry Dahut is a licensed California trial attorney. Over the course of his 30-plus years practicing law, Henry has represented and counseled countless clients in legal trouble.
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No drug has moved faster through inner cities than crack cocaine, and similarly, no drug has been prosecuted with more vigor by law enforcement and the courts.
Cocaine is a schedule-two narcotic, which means it has been determined by the federal government to be both highly addictive and medically dangerous.
What is Crack Cocaine?
Crack cocaine, also known as rock cocaine, is chemically extracted from cocaine and then mixed and heated with baking soda, which turns into pasty white rocks. The concentration of these elements makes crack cocaine one of the most dangerous and highly addictive drugs available. Once hooked, getting off the drug is extremely challenging.
Crack cocaine can be as addictive as heroin and often fatal, depending on the dosage. A dose is expected to produce a lethal result somewhere between the range of 700 and 800 mg. People die of associated heart failure, but excessive amounts of cocaine have also been known to cause a stroke.
Crack cocaine, a more dangerous and addictive form of the drug, has led to a harsher and more diverse range of penalties.
Possession of Crack Cocaine
Disparity Between Federal and State Law Penalties
State drug laws have distinct penalties for the possession and sale of crack cocaine.
For crack cocaine possession, most states do not have quantity requirements but do require increased penalties for possession of over 25 grams or more of crack cocaine.
The following demonstrates the extent of penalty disparity of crack cocaine possession between most states and the federal sentencing guidelines.
For example, fines for the simple possession of crack cocaine can range from $1,000 to $500,000, depending on whether it’s charged as a federal or state offense. Concerning incarceration, simple possession of crack cocaine can range from 4 months to 10 years in jail.
Sale of Crack Cocaine
Disparity Between Federal and State Law Penalties
State drug laws have profoundly different penalties from federal laws concerning prison terms and fines for the sale and trafficking of crack cocaine.
Fines can range from $2,500 to $1,000,000. Prison terms can range from one year in county jail to life in prison. In many jurisdictions, using a firearm to furtherance a drug felony can carry an additional punishment of up to 15 years.
In recent federal sentencing laws, possession of just five or more grams of crack cocaine was punishable by a mandatory prison term of five years.
Many state jurisdictions followed this lead, making the penalties for possessing small quantities of crack cocaine some of the most punitive in the nation.
In just one five-year period, there have been more than thirty-thousand felony cocaine convictions resulting in federal prison terms of five to ten years. Over 90% of these felony cases involved selling and distributing crack cocaine.
Judicial Sentencing
Mandatory Sentencing Rejected
Under the early sentencing guidelines which federal district courts were mandated to follow, a conviction for the sale of 50 grams or more of cocaine would automatically add ten years (or more) to the sentence.
The judicial sentencing committee, whose job includes overseeing the application of federal sentencing laws, determined that prison terms for crack cocaine possession were too long and too harsh.
Prison Terms for Possession
As a result, the sentencing laws for mandatory prison terms for possession of crack cocaine were changed from ten years to eight.
Although the change in the law was not intended to operate retroactively to previously convicted and sentenced crack cocaine offenders, thousands of convicted offenders who were convicted under the earlier and harsher guidelines have been allowed to petition the appellate courts for purposes of reducing their original cocaine sentence.
Diversion For Simple Possession
For convicted offenders who petitioned for a reduction in their sentence, over fifty percent of these petitions were granted.
If charged with simple possession of crack cocaine, the defendant may qualify to participate in the judicial diversion process.
More and more jurisdictions rely on drug diversion programs rather than punitive prison terms for first-time crack cocaine offenders.
Eligibility Conditions For Receiving Diversion
Whether or not the defendant will be eligible for diversion will depend on your jurisdiction, whether your case is charged as a federal or state offense, and the factual and legal circumstances of the case.
Some jurisdictions even have special court divisions that work with addicted offenders. Diversion, however, does not apply if the charges include the sale or distribution of crack cocaine.
To qualify for diversion, many courts require the possession charge currently before the court to be the defendant’s first and only severe drug offense.
Consult A Criminal Defense Lawyer
Should you have specific questions or require additional information about your legal rights and obligations, we recommend you consult a verified Criminal Defense Lawyer as soon as possible.
