In the last couple of years, the US has seen a big shift in policies and laws that pertain to illegal substances. With the legalization of medical marijuana in several states, and the permissible use of the drug for recreation being allowed in Colorado and Washington, there has been pressure on the government to balance out some the discrepancies found in the sentencing laws of other drugs.

Under the Obama administration there has been massive changes in two laws that affect drug offenders throughout the country.

1. The Fair Sentencing Act

In the 1980’s there was a remarkable increase in the amount of crack cocaine use, as well as a rise in the statistics of violent crime in cities. This prompted the Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986 (source), which was introduced to create harsher sentencing laws for crack cocaine offenders.

These new laws created extreme differences in the sentencing of crack cocaine offenders and those involved in cocaine powder busts. In what became known as the 100:1 disparity, offenders involved with crack cocaine received the minimum mandatory sentence for 100 times less the amount of drug they were busted with when compared with those caught with cocaine powder. Continue reading →