During the search, over 55 grams of crack cocaine, $2,240 in cash, several digital scales, drug packaging material, drug related paraphernalia, drug related documentation and controlled pills were seized. The cocaine has an approximate street value of $5,500.
How Much Is 3 Grams Of Crack
Crack is a solid, crystallized form of cocaine. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifies cocaine as a schedule II narcotic. Though cocaine has some medical value, crack does not. Possession of crack is illegal in every state in the United States. Criminal penalties associated with the possession and distribution of crack vary by state and are primarily dependent upon the amount of the substance an individual is caught with.
Possession of crack, in any quantity, is illegal. The use, possession, distribution, sale, and trafficking of crack are crimes that carry different degrees of legal and financial penalties. The only way to get crack is through illegally obtaining it.
State-level criminal penalties for crack-related offenses range from misdemeanor possession for small quantities, to serious felony charges for larger quantities, distribution, and trafficking. Sentences for misdemeanor offenses often include probation, financial penalties, and short prison sentences. Felony offenses carry a potential of up to 20 years in prison depending upon the degree of the offense. Crack-related offense penalties are almost entirely determined by the quantity of the substance in your possession, how it came into your possession and the intent of possession.
Certain offenses, such as trafficking, are also likely to be prosecuted at the federal level and are subject to strict mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines under the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. Trafficking crack is considered a federal felony offense under the Federal Controlled Substances Act and carries a financial penalty of between $1 million and $50 million, alongside incarceration periods of up to life in federal prison (with a mandatory minimum sentence of between five and 10 years). Individuals with a history of trafficking offenses face additional financial penalties between $2 and $75 million, alongside the potential for concurrent sentences of life in prison.
In the state of Florida, any amount of crack possession under 28 grams is classified as a second-degree felony, punishable by a $10,000 fine and up to 15 years in prison. Any amount of possession above 28 grams is classified as a trafficking offense (rather than a possession) and includes mandatory minimum sentences of between three and 15 years in prison, alongside fines of up to $250,000.
Federal penalties for first-time offenders in possession of any amount of crack (below trafficking guidelines) include a minimum $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail, whereas a second conviction is punishable by a minimum $2,500 fine and two years in jail. The penalties associated with repeat offenses continue to scale up depending upon the number of prior convictions an individual has.
Pretrial intervention programs are prosecutorial agreements offered by many states to assist drug offenders and those struggling with substance use disorders in reducing the severity of legal consequences resulting from drug-related offenses, potentially leading to the complete dismissal of the charges against them. In exchange, the individual must agree to voluntarily enroll in a court-appointed rehab program and meet all other prescribed conditions to fulfill the agreement.
The state of Florida offers pretrial intervention programs to any first time, non-violent misdemeanor or felony offender. In these cases, individuals charged with drug-related crimes enter into deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) that include court-appointed rehabilitation alongside counseling, education, supervision and additional medical and psychological treatment. After all conditions of the agreement are met and the rehabilitation program is completed, the state dismisses all charges in the case.
Individuals on probation may be checked for crack consumption. Drug use is detected in random drug test programs. Violations of probation conditions result in worse penalties than those of the original offense.
Crack use is detectable in a variety of standard drug tests, such as saliva, urine and hair follicle tests. Despite a very short half-life of roughly 15 minutes, crack remains detectable in drug tests for an extended period following use. In saliva tests, crack is detectable for up to 24 hours following use, in urine tests for between one and four days and in hair follicle tests for up to 90 days.
A comprehensive examination of the 100-to-1 crack versus powder cocaine sentencing disparity under which distribution of just 5 grams of crack carries a minimum 5-year federal prisonsentence, while distribution of 500 grams of powder cocaine carries the same 5-year mandatory minimum sentence.
The hate crime legislation enacted in 2009 directed the U.S. Sentencing Commission to submit a second report on federal mandatory minimums.28 The commission presented its second report in October 2011.29 A number of things had changed between the first and second Commission reports. Sentencing under the Guidelines had been in place for only a relatively short period of time when the first report was written. By the time of the second report, the number of defendants sentenced by federal courts had grown to almost three times the number sentenced under the Guidelines when the commission wrote its first report.30 The judicial landscape has changed as well. When the commission issued its first report, the Guidelines were considered binding upon sentencing judges.31 After the Supreme Court's Booker decision and its progeny, the Guidelines became but the first step in the sentencing process.32 In addition, the Fair Sentencing Act, passed in 2010, reduced the powder cocaine-crack cocaine ratio from 100 to 10 to roughly 18 to 1.33
The eight substances are heroin, powder cocaine, cocaine base (crack), PCP, LSD, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and marijuana. Criminal penalties related to each substance provide one set of mandatory minimums for trafficking in a very substantial amount listed in Section 841(b)(1)(A), and a second, lower set of mandatory minimums for trafficking in a lower but still substantial amount listed in Section 841(a)(1)(B). The first set (841(b)(1)(A) level) features the following thresholds:
The Supreme Court decision in Harmelin v. Michigan284 seems to make a defendant's Eighth Amendment arguments in a controlled substances case more difficult. The defendant in Harmelin was a first-time offender convicted of possession of 672 grams of cocaine, enough for possibly as many as 65,000 individual doses. Under the laws of the state of Michigan, the conviction carried with it a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The Court splintered over the question of whether Harmelin's mandatory sentence offended the Eighth Amendment because it was grossly disproportionate to his offense.
At one time, possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine (cocaine base) was punished 100 times more severely than possession with intent to distribute cocaine in powdered form.294 Defendants claimed the distinction had a racially disparate impact. The claim was almost universally rejected.295
P.L. 111-220, 2(a), 124 Stat. 2372 (2010). Prior to enactment, 5000 grams of powder cocaine or 50 grams of crack cocaine triggered the Controlled Substances Act's 10-year mandatory minimum, 21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A)(ii) and (iii) (2006 ed.), and 500 grams of powder or 5 grams of crack triggered its 5-year mandatory minimum. Id. 841(b)(1)(B)(ii) and (iii) (2006 ed.). The FSA established a 5000 grams to 280 gram ratio for the 10-year mandatory minimum, 21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A)(ii) and (iii), and a 500 grams to 28 gram ratio for the 5-year mandatory minimum. Id. 841(b)(1)(B)(ii) and (iii).
Id. 841(b)(1)(A)(ii), 960(b)(1)(B) ("5 kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of- (I) coca leaves, except coca leaves and extracts of coca leaves from which cocaine, ecgonine, and derivatives of ecgonine or their salts have been removed; (II) cocaine, its salts, optical and geometric isomers, and salts of isomers; (III) ecgonine, its derivatives, their salts, isomers, and salts of isomers; or (IV) any compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of any of the substances referred to in subclauses (I) through (III)").
Id. 841(b)(1)(A)(vi), 960(b)(1)(F) ("400 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of N-phenyl-N- [ 1- ( 2-phenylethyl ) -4-piperidinyl ] propanamide or 10 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of any analogue of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] propanamide").
Id. 841(b)(1)(A)(viii), 960(b)(1)(H) ("50 grams or more of methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, and salts of its isomers or 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, or salts of its isomers").
Id. 841(b)(1)(B)(i), 960(b)(2)(A) ("100 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of heroin") (10 grams = .35 ounces; 1 kilogram (1,000 grams) = 2.2 lbs.). Id. 841(b) and 960(b) use the same thresholds.
Id. 841(b)(1)(B)(ii), 960(b)(2)(B) ("500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of- (I) coca leaves, except coca leaves and extracts of coca leaves from which cocaine, ecgonine, and derivatives of ecgonine or their salts have been removed; (II) cocaine, its salts, optical and geometric isomers, and salts of isomers; (III) ecgonine, its derivatives, their salts, isomers, and salts of isomers; or (IV) any compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of any of the substances referred to in subclauses (I) through (III)").
Id. 841(b)(1)(B)(vi), 960(b)(2)(F) ("40 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of N-phenyl-N- [ 1- ( 2-phenylethyl ) -4-piperidinyl ] propanamide or 10 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of any analogue of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] propanamide"). 2ff7e9595c
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