Powder cocaine and crack use in the United States: An examination of risk for arrest and socioeconomic disparities in use
Introduction
Cocaine is one of the most prevalent and potentially dangerous illicit drugs (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2010, SAMHSA, 2013a). In 2012, almost 4.7 million individuals (aged 12 and older) in the US reported past-year use (SAMHSA, 2013b). There are notable racial and ethnic disparities in use with Whites more likely to report lifetime cocaine use (i.e., powder and/or crack cocaine) as compared to Blacks and Hispanics (16.9%, 9.7%, and 11.6%, respectively), but smaller differences for past-year use (1.9%, 1.8%, and 1.7%, respectively; SAMHSA, 2013c). For crack use specifically, Blacks were more likely to report lifetime use as compared to Whites and Hispanics (4.6%, 3.7%, and 2.3%, respectively), as well as past-year use (0.8%, 0.3%, and 0.1%, respectively; SAMHSA, 2013c). Possessing cocaine places an individual at risk for arrest and incarceration, which can lead to health consequences and loss of federal rights and benefits (e.g., student loans, housing, food stamps) (US Department of Justice, 2013, United States Government Accountability Office, 2005).
Cocaine has been a controlled substance in the US since the enactment of the Harrison Act of 1914, and cocaine was scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, which defined modern drug regulation (Musto, 1999, Spillane, 2004). However, a smokable rock form of cocaine—crack—emerged, and became widely available in most US cities by the mid-1980s (Vagins and McCurdy, 2006). Crack was sold in smaller quantities than powder cocaine and thus at less expensive prices, and as a result use was highly prevalent in inner-city drug markets in urban America (Vagins and McCurdy, 2006). The introduction of crack markets was followed by largely unsubstantiated claims that crack is more dangerous than powder cocaine and warranted heightened penalties (Hatsukami and Fischman, 1996; US Sentencing Commission [USSC], 2014a; Vaughn et al., 2010). Notably, in 1991, the likelihood for serving time for a violent crime while under the influence of crack or powder cocaine was found to be similar (Leigey and Bachman, 2007). Moreover, although Vaughn et al. (2010) found that crack was associated with higher likelihood of violence in bivariable analyses, there was no increased likelihood for violence after controlling for demographics, mood disorders, and other substance use disorders.
The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was the first federal criminal law to differentiate crack from other forms of cocaine, establishing a 100:1 weight ratio as the threshold for eliciting the required five-year “mandatory minimum” penalty upon conviction of possession (USSC, 2011, USSC, 2014a, Wallace, 2014). Specifically, the penalty for possessing 500 g of powder cocaine was comparable to possessing only 5 g of crack (Kleiman et al., 2011). The Fair Sentencing Act (2010) reduced sentencing disparities to 18:1, but sentencing disparities remain and the law is not retroactive, thus, those arrested prior to enactment remain in prison. The Smarter Sentencing Act (2014) was proposed in 2014 to create less costly minimum terms for nonviolent drug offenders and to allow for the 8800 federal prisoners (87% of whom are black) imprisoned for crack offenses to be resentenced in accordance with the Fair Sentencing Act. However, the bill was not enacted.
The longstanding differential incarceration rates and lengths of sentences for crack and powder cocaine users have disproportionately affected African American communities (Lowney, 1994, Vagins and McCurdy, 2006, Wallace, 2014). Spohn (2013) examined racial disparities in sentences from drug-trafficking cases in three US district courts and found that, compared to White men, Black and Hispanic men were significantly more likely to be detained prior to adjudication and received significantly longer sentences. African Americans are also more likely to be convicted for crack offenses, while powder cocaine convictions are more common in affluent white communities (USSC, 1995, Vagins and McCurdy, 2006).
The vast majority of offenders convicted of crack trafficking offenses are African American (83%; USSC, 2014b). This is significant as data collected from several prominent social justice groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), report that African Americans comprise only 15% of regular drug users, but represent 37% of individuals arrested, 59% of those convicted, and 74% of those sentenced to prison for drug offenses (DPA, 2014, Vagins and McCurdy, 2006). In 2003, African Americans accounted for over 80% of those sentenced for crack offenses even though whites and Hispanics accounted for over 66% of crack users (Vagins and McCurdy, 2006). It has been argued by advocates and members of Congress that federal prosecution and sentencing should be equalized in order to end disparities embedded in the law (Scott, 2013, Vagins and McCurdy, 2006).
Aside from a host of negative adverse health outcomes commonly associated with use (NIDA, 2014, Washton and Gold, 1984), cocaine use and possession can also have profound social consequences, including increased crime and imprisonment, which changes family structure and makes father less available (Williams and Latkin, 2007). According to Monitoring the Future (MTF), a nationally representative study of high school seniors, by age 27–28 about one in five adults has used cocaine (Johnston et al., 2013). Consequently, policy for cocaine-related offenses has the potential to impact a substantial portion of Americans.
Most of the current literature on arrest and incarceration is derived from the penal system with little self-reported data. Guided by a fundamental causes perspective (Link and Phelan, 1995), which posits that socioeconomic status (SES) is a fundamental cause of health disparities, we utilize a recent national dataset of self-reported data on crack and powder cocaine use with a larger sample, focusing solely on adults, in order to explore the most current disparities in use, which continue to have profound legal consequences for users.
Section snippets
Sample
Data were examined for the four most recent cohorts (2009–2012) of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an ongoing cross-sectional survey of non-institutionalized individuals in the 50 states and District of Columbia (SAMHSA, 2013b). NSDUH is a nationally representative probability sample derived through four stages: first, census tracts were selected within each state; then, segments in each tract were selected; then dwelling units were selected, and finally, respondents were
Results
Sample characteristics are presented in Table 1. Arrest results in Table 2 suggest that both lifetime and recent crack users were at higher risk of lifetime arrest than powder cocaine users. Similar, but less robust findings arose regarding (recent) multiple arrests; however, in the conditional model, powder cocaine use was not associated with multiple arrests. Further analysis (Table 3) suggests that risk for multiple arrests increase in relation to crack use—especially recent use. This
Discussion
This analysis of a nationally representative sample of American adults found that 12% of adults have used powder cocaine and about 4% have used crack. This finding is significant not only due to the possible untoward effects of use on health and well-being, but also because federal legislation has been introduced that could eliminate the differential sentencing between crack and powder cocaine users that has been in effect for almost three decades. Enactment of new legislation would
Conclusions
In light of the current 18:1 sentencing disparity, our results suggest adults of lower SES may be at a greater risk for being imprisoned compared to their more advantaged counterparts, as they are more likely to use crack rather than powder cocaine. Our finding that racial minority adults are at low risk for crack use is somewhat inconsistent with the literature suggesting that young African American males are more likely to use crack (Beaver, 2010, Smart, 1991, Sterk et al., 2013, Wallace, 2014
Role of funding source
This project was not funded. The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research and National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) principal investigators had no role in analysis, interpretation of results, or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Contributors
All authors are responsible for this reported research. J. Palamar conceptualized and designed the study, conducted the statistical analyses, and drafted the initial manuscript. S. Davies, D. Ompad, and M. Weitzman helped draft the manuscript, helped interpret results, critically reviewed the manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript. C. Cleland advised J. Palamar regarding statistical analyses, critically reviewed methods and results, and reviewed and revised the manuscript. All
Conflict of interest
No conflict declared.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research for providing access to these data (http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/landing.jsp).
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