
Contents
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Speed of Passing Speed of Passing
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Fears of Crack’s Simplicity Fears of Crack’s Simplicity
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Making Crack Making Crack
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Fears of Crack’s Impure Purity Fears of Crack’s Impure Purity
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Simple Possession: From Couriers to Kingpins Simple Possession: From Couriers to Kingpins
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Crack’s Inherent Retail Status Crack’s Inherent Retail Status
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Crack’s Violence Crack’s Violence
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Crack Markets Crack Markets
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Crack’s Networked Violence Crack’s Networked Violence
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The Invisible Hand Holds a Gun The Invisible Hand Holds a Gun
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Conclusion Conclusion
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2 The Invisible Hand Holds a Gun: Law and Policy in the Lethal Regulation of Crack
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Published:December 2011
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Abstract
This chapter examines the cultural resonance between rap and crack cocaine by focusing on the complicated sociolegal logics that paved the way for the drug's lethal effects, and out of which its symbolic power developed. It first considers the law and policy on crack, including the bill signed by President Barack Obama in August 2010 repealing the mandatory minimum for the simple possession of crack and reducing the sentencing disparity between crack trafficking and powder trafficking from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1. It then traces the history of the paradoxical punishment of crack cocaine, arguing that the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between powder and crack was deliberately and intentionally created. It also discusses the link between the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity and the so-called “Kingpin Strategy,” along with the violence that came to be associated with crack's low-level distribution system. Finally, the chapter explores the broad consensus among researchers that the lethal violence of the crack era was a product of the systemic features of crack markets themselves.
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