Specifically, the five-year mandatory minimum threshold quantity for crack cocaine offenses should be adjusted from the current 5 grams trigger to at least 25 grams and the current ten-year threshold quantity from 50 grams to at least 250 grams (and repeal the mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine.

The racially disparate effect of the crack penalties is clear:

The overwhelming majority of offenders subject to the heightened crack cocaine penalties are black, about 85 percent in 2000.

The Sentencing Commission's 2007 report on the crack penalties is here. Even Joe Biden agrees the planned reduction doesn't go far enough. In June, 2007, he called for the elimination of all disparity between coke and powder cocaine.

The current sentencing disparity between the two forms of cocaine is based on false notions and old logic. The bottom line is that there is no scientific justification for any disparity. Crack and powder are simply two forms of the same drug, and each form produces identical effects. I will soon be introducing legislation that eliminates the sentencing disparity completely, fixing this injustice once and for all. I look forward to working with Senator Hatch and others – Republicans and Democrats – and urge them to support righting this wrong.”

That's probably not going to happen anytime soon. The least we can do is make the change that will happen retroactive.

FAMM says the Commission is accepting letters from everyone on the retroactive issue. The time to write is now.

Here are some more interesting statistics on crack and powder from the Sentencing Project (pdf):