Anti-Drug Abuse Act Establishes 100-to-1 Crack-Cocaine Sentencing Disparity

Congress passes the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, establishing a 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses—imposing the same penalties for possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine as for 500 grams of powder cocaine. The legislation provided mandatory minimum sentences: five years for crimes involving 5 grams of crack or 500 grams of powder, and ten years for 50 grams of crack or 5,000 grams of powder.

The Act was passed during the media frenzy following the death of University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias. However, the reasoning behind the 100:1 ratio remains unclear due to a lack of legislative history surrounding the Act. The disparity had devastating racial consequences: according to U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, “The sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine has contributed to the imprisonment of African Americans at six times the rate of Whites.” In 2009, one year before reform, the U.S. Sentencing Commission found that 79 percent of convicted crack offenders were Black.

This sentencing structure remained in effect until the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced the disparity to 18:1 and eliminated the five-year mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine. The 100-to-1 disparity represents one of the most significant examples of racially discriminatory drug policy in modern American history, contributing fundamentally to mass incarceration and the disproportionate imprisonment of Black Americans.