(this graphic comes from Good Magazine, http://awesome.good.is/transparency/web/1101/drug-war/flat.html)
Yesterday, US lawmakers made an enormous, important change in its policy on cocaine. Notorious for the hardline stance on drugs, and stiff penalties for even minor possession, Human Rights Watch reported that this retroactive law will actually differentiate between someone with a baggie, and someone with a duffel bag of crack cocaine. Along with the logical incongruities of the previous law, HRW reports it has historically been applied disproportionately to African-Americans.
Some 12 000 American inmates can now apply for reduced sentence.
How this will affect trafficking laws is unclear. Drug law reformers in the US have often argued for similar measures to be enacted in concert with tougher punishments on dealers - and more resources put into investigating the movers, not the users.
As the fantastic image above shows, there are no shortage of movers south of the border fighting to meet the needs of American dealers and their clients. Who takes the heat for this may now be slightly changed.
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