My first Magazine Final Draft Multimodal Project 4 | Página 9

The alleged intention behind this policy was to differentiate between “serious” and “major” traf-
fickers, the former receiving mandatory five-year sentences while the latter would serve a re-
quired ten year sentence. One of the more controversial elements of this differentiation involved
the now famous “100-to-1” cocaine ratio. In the early 1980’s a more affordable version of co-
caine took America by storm. Crack cocaine infiltrated America’s inner cities, addicting many.
Congress, under the 1986 Act, determined that five grams of crack was equivalent to 100 grams
of powder cocaine.
Ford, Sarah Michele. “Differential Sentencing for Possession of Crack and Powder Cocaine.” The Social Lens, 18 Mar.
2010, thesociallens.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/differential-sentencing-for-possession-of-crack-and-powder-cocaine/.
This decision sparked controversy as it penalized the impoverished who could only afford the
cheaper version of the drug while giving leeway to the affluents’ recreational habits. Although
Congress claimed that the discrepancy stemmed from crack cocaine’s “deleterious effects on the