I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 265 
To target cocaine kingpins and address sentencing disparity between crack 
and powder cocaine. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 7, 2009 
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To target cocaine kingpins and address sentencing disparity 
between crack and powder cocaine. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drug Sentencing Re-
form and Cocaine Kingpin Trafficking Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Cocaine base (commonly known as ‘‘crack 
cocaine’’) is made by dissolving cocaine hydro-
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chloride (commonly known as ‘‘powder cocaine’’) in 
a solution of sodium bicarbonate (or a similar agent) 
and water. Therefore, crack and powder cocaine are 
simply different forms of the same substance and all 
crack cocaine originates as powder cocaine. 
(2) The physiological and psychotropic effects 
of cocaine are similar regardless of whether it is in 
the form of cocaine base (crack) or cocaine hydro-
chloride (powder). 
(3) One of the principal objectives of the Anti- 
Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which established different 
mandatory minimum penalties for different drugs, 
was to target Federal law enforcement and prosecu-
torial resources on serious and major drug traf-
fickers. 
(4) In 1986, Congress linked mandatory min-
imum penalties to different drug quantities, which 
were intended to serve as proxies for identifying of-
fenders who were ‘‘serious’’ traffickers (managers of 
retail drug trafficking) and ‘‘major’’ traffickers 
(manufacturers or the kingpins who headed drug or-
ganizations). 
(5) Although drug purity and individual toler-
ance vary, making it difficult to state with specificity 
the individual dose of each form of cocaine, 5 grams 
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of powder cocaine generally equals 25 to 50 indi-
vidual doses and 500 grams of powder cocaine gen-
erally equals 2,500 to 5,000 individual doses, while 
5 grams of crack cocaine generally equals 10 to 50 
individual doses (or enough for a heavy user to con-
sume in one weekend) and 500 grams of crack co-
caine generally equals 100 to 500 individual doses. 
(6) In part because Congress believed that 
crack cocaine had unique properties that made it in-
stantly addictive, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 
established an enormous disparity (a 100 to 1 pow-
der-to-crack ratio) in the quantities of powder and 
crack cocaine that trigger 5- and 10-year mandatory 
minimum sentences. This disparity permeates the 
Sentencing Guidelines. 
(7) Congress also based its decision to establish 
the 100 to 1 quantity ratio on the beliefs that— 
(A) crack cocaine distribution and use was 
associated with violent crime to a much greater 
extent than was powder cocaine; 
(B) prenatal exposure to crack cocaine was 
particularly devastating for children of crack 
users; 
(C) crack cocaine use was particularly 
prevalent among young people; and 
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(D) crack cocaine’s potency, low cost, and 
ease of distribution and use were fueling its 
widespread use. 
(8) As a result, it takes 100 times more powder 
cocaine than crack cocaine to trigger the 5- and 10- 
year mandatory minimum sentences. While it takes 
500 grams of powder cocaine to trigger the 5-year 
mandatory minimum sentence, it takes just 5 grams 
of crack cocaine to trigger that sentence. Similarly, 
while it takes 5 kilograms of powder cocaine to trig-
ger the 10-year mandatory minimum sentence, 50 
grams of crack cocaine will trigger the same sen-
tence. 
(9) Most of the assumptions on which the cur-
rent penalty structure was based have turned out to 
be unfounded. 
(10) Studies comparing usage of powder and 
crack cocaine have shown that there is little dif-
ference between the two forms of the drug and fun-
damentally undermine the current quantity-based 
sentencing disparity. More specifically, the studies 
have shown the following: 
(A) Both forms of cocaine cause identical 
effects, although crack is smoked, while powder 
cocaine is typically snorted. Epidemiological 
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data show that smoking a drug delivers it to 
the brain more rapidly, which increases likeli-
hood of addiction. Therefore, differences in the 
typical method of administration of the two 
forms of the drug, and not differences in the in-
herent properties of the two forms of the drug, 
make crack cocaine potentially more addictive 
to typical users than powder cocaine. Both 
forms of the drug are addictive, however, and 
the treatment protocol for the drug is the same 
regardless of the form of the drug the patient 
has used. 
(B) Violence committed by crack users is 
relatively rare, and overall violence has de-
creased for both powder and crack cocaine of-
fenses. Almost all crack-related violence is sys-
temic violence that occurs within the drug dis-
tribution process. Sentencing enhancements are 
better suited to punish associated violence, 
which are separate, pre-existing crimes in and 
of themselves. 
(C) The negative effects of prenatal expo-
sure to crack cocaine were vastly overstated. 
They are identical to the effects of prenatal ex-
posure to powder cocaine and do not serve as 
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