But it's a disproportional penalty. Imagine if you had different kinds of speeding tickets, one for luxury cars that was a fine of $100, and one for other cars which was $500. That'd be unfair to people who couldn't afford luxury cars (a.k.a. the not-rich). Yes, speeding is against the law, but the penalties should fit the crime. Speeding is speeding, or in the example in my previous post, cocaine use is cocaine use.
You're missing the point entirely here. The reason that crack cocaine is subject to a harsher penalty is that it is more dangerous. Your car analogy does not belong here; a regular car is no less dangerous than a luxury car (It depends on the model, though). They all have certain factory specifications that they need to meet in terms of safety for their consumer. The laws are subject, however, to how responsible of a driver you are; you are supposed to first of all drive safely, so that means no speeding; secondly you need exercise routine maintenance on your vehicle to ensure it's working, safe, condition. If you, as a driver, are operating a vehicle that does not meet the safety requirements or if you operate the vehicle inconsistently with the guidelines then you are threat to the safety and well-being of others; in that regard you get a ticket for such violations. Crack cocaine is much the same as these traffic safety violations. While they are all violating traffic safety, they all are doing it to different degrees and thus have more severe penalties depending on what you do and how you do it. It has nothing to do with any petty biases but it is only out of concern for the user's safety and those around him.
I don't believe it is ever a necessity to commit a crime, the way America is set up, is that your basic needs can be fulfilled by working 40hrs/week (Full Time) at a minimum wage Job(7.25USD/Hr). And that is how it should be, the government should not be giving out entitlements, nor is poverty an excuse to free that person from their immoral occurrence. Any crime committed is that persons choice regardless of the scenario, or circumstances, and they are subjected to the laws that they have broken in the state that they reside in.
That is true, but with any amount of hard work even in a jobless market, work can be found. Even begging can be seen as work, and I have spotted many times in NYC homeless people going out to each house going through the garbage cans and taking out the bottles to trade in for money. There are also public housing, affordable house/rent laws, and homeless shelters. Even more frequently free food is given out in large tent events, mostly at parks, and are largely because of private donators, not the government. There are also second hand stores to obtain clothing, and other materials at dirt low prices. The other day I got [Donkey Kong 64] form Good Will for 4$ USD. The government does a lot already, and although being poor limits your options per se, and you may become more inclined to a crime not out of necessity but out of a desire for an easier life, to commit a/the crime it is always the perpetrator's choice.
Basic needs? Off 7.25? No. That idea is just ridiculous. You might be able to get enough food to eat, but if you need to a place to live you're pretty much screwed. Not to mention how extremely difficult it is to get a job. When people despise you simply because you aren't on the side of luck the world is quite difficult. Always being judged, teased, and hassled for it; as if life wasn't already trouble people only seem to add more difficulty into the life of the poor. It is extremely difficult to get a job as a transient, and in that regard difficult to keep it. Most employers are looking for someone with more stability, someone more "refined." I.E. someone that isn't a bum. While it's easy to say that you could find somewhere to live, that just always isn't the case. While such places do exist and are options, they are not everywhere and they are not options for everyone. So they have no where to stay, no job... no food. They could panhandle or recycle for money but those both bring in their own set of problems: one the legality of such things(mostly the former and only then in certain circumstances) are questionable at best and you could even ticketed for doing such acts and thus not only have NO money, but be indebted as well. Also, begging is NOT a job; you earn your money in a job, you have it pathetically given to you by begging. Recycling is a decent method. But you need a fair amount of cans and like a job while you can get enough for food and some other basic necessities anything else is out of the question, especially in the case of our intrepid recycler; as more people discover this "trick" to cash then it will become less available as the competition increases. The number of recyclables is of a finite amount; if enough people catch on then you will not be able to make any money of this as everyone else will be hogging all the aluminum.
You are very correct in the sense that no one NEEDS to commit a crime. But in that logic no one NEEDS to do anything but fulfill their biological obligations: drink water, breathe oxygen, eat food, and sleep. Everything else can be argued as just a "want" and not a "need." They don't have to commit any crimes, you're right. But it's often not that simple. What do I do when I need food or water and one of those "large tent events" is nowhere to be found? And the recycling plants, they are shut down, so even if I collected cans I couldn't cash them in. No money, no food, no house.... Another cold, sleepless night that you had to go to bed without eating. Or simply, instead of living in such anguish and turmoil you can walk into the nearby Safeway and grab yourself some sustenance. So you lifted a sub sandwich with pastrami and pepper jack on rye bread with a coke to wash it all down and you go back to that park bench that you are so fond of to eat your food. Life is good, by taking from the store that obviously had more than enough that it could ever need you gained the ability to see another day in your miserable little life. As you are just sitting there, minding your own business just trying to get by, some jerk has the nerve to walk up and demand that you give them all your money and any other valuables. While you desperately try to convince them that you have nothing they get increasingly hostile(verbally, of course) and so before he can get on with his jig you jump to your face and give him one solid one right to the cheek, his knees buckle and he collapses. The cops come up at this moment and well guess what: It turns out that the guy who tried to rob you is actually someone who is pretty well off, respectable, you know all that jazz. And so instead of saying that he tried to rob you he says that you tried to rob him and even assaulted him. The cop and the court and jury judge the situation and see this: a well off, "valued" member of society vs a jobless, homeless bum. Oh, and did I mention that they're blackandmexicanandchineseandindianandarabicallinone and shoot up heroin every other weekend? So, the verdict: guilty as charged. Jail time or community service, maybe an anger management class and since you had a little marijuana leaf in your pocket they'll sign you up for a drug awareness class and slap you with the bill for all these things here. I have personally witnessed such travesties occur, and it is these situations that make people believe there is no way out other than to do such things. Society offers options to live morally upright lives, but it does not promote an environment that allows such a life to flourish with the impoverished; it promotes in its stead the crime that we are trying to prevent by making those afflicted by poverty to be in such dire situations to commit these crimes.
It isn't the need for these material things that drives them to act so. It is the need for a sure tomorrow; being able to rest easy because your future is secure. While the methods you indicated are great methods, they are like I've said not always available, and not for all people. Given a choice of stealing some food tonight or starving through the night and then
trying to find some food in the morning leaves you with a rather obvious answer