Powder vs. crack: NYU study identifies arrest risk disparity for cocaine use

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/nyu-pvc021915.php

Public Release: 20-Feb-2015
Socioeconomically disadvantaged adults are more likely to use crack over powder cocaine, and are thus more likely to be subject to arrest
New York University

In light of the current sentencing disparity(18:1) between crack and powder cocaine possession in the United States, researchers from New York University's Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (NYU CDUHR) examined socioeconomic correlates of use of each, and relations between use and arrest, to determine who may be at highest risk for arrest and imprisonment.

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In their analysis, now in the on-line edition of Drug and Alcohol Dependence, crack users were at higher risk than powder cocaine users for reporting a lifetime arrest or multiple recent arrests. Racial minorities were at low risk for powder cocaine use, but they tended to be at high risk for crack use.

"Much of the public literature simply focuses on racial minorities being at high risk for arrest and incarceration due to drug possession" said Dr. Palamar. Our research shows it is much more complex than that. Crack users are much more likely to experience arrest than powder cocaine users, and being poor is the true overwhelming correlate, not being black or a minority."

Dr. Palamar and his team noted that individuals with higher education, higher income or full-time employment were much less likely to use crack; however, these were sometimes risk factors for powder cocaine use, which is often more associated with affluence. The researchers found that blacks were in fact at increased risk for lifetime and recent crack use, but not when controlling for other socioeconomic variables. However, blacks who did use either powder cocaine or crack tended to use at higher frequencies, possibly placing them at even higher risk for arrest.

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The research study confirms that crack tends to be used by a more marginalized segment of society, and it is this socioeconomically disadvantaged segment of society who is at higher risk for arrest and subject to the 18:1 sentencing disparity. Since black individuals in the US are so much more likely to live in poverty, disproportionate numbers have been incarcerated for crack offenses, while more educated and affluent individuals are less likely to be subject to legal consequences for powder cocaine use.

"We wrote this paper to inform the public and Congress about the disparities in the sentencing laws between crack and powder cocaine which continue to have profound legal and social consequences for users," said, Dr. Palamar who is also an assistant professor of population health at NYU's Langone Medical Center. "The sentencing laws appear to unfairly target the poor, with blacks ultimately experiencing high incarceration rates as a result."

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