Topic: Powder Cocaine

Sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine were adjusted in 2010 to reduce the disparity relative to powder cocaine from 100-to-1 down to 18-to-1. However, the Obama administration and the Department of Justice under Eric Holder have opposed applying these changes retroactively to those already in prison. The Black Agenda Report highlights this as a failure of civil rights leadership and the "prison industrial complex."

The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences. While the threshold for a five-year mandatory minimum for crack was raised from 5 grams to 28 grams, the hosts argue the policy still heavily favors powder cocaine users and maintains a massive law enforcement budget.