make meth penalties match crack cocaine
Make meth penalties match crack cocaine penalties.
Occurrences
Schumer said there should be harsh federal punishments for meth dealers and makers on par with those assessed to crack dealers and makers.
Evidence
Schumer's plan would sharply increase penalties for dealing the drug to make them equivalent to crack... Schumer announced today that he will introduce legislation to make the penalties for selling meth the same as for selling crack cocaine.
For a violation involving cocaine base, the threshold is 28 grams or more for the 5-year minimum and 280 grams or more for the 10-year minimum. For methamphetamine, the thresholds are 5 grams or more of methamphetamine actual or 50 grams or more of a mixture for the 5-year minimum, and 50 grams or more of methamphetamine actual or 500 grams or more of a mixture for the 10-year minimum.
Schumer's plan would sharply increase penalties for dealing the drug to make them equivalent to crack, close a loophole crystal meth makers exploit to purchase the key raw ingredient for the drug in bulk...
Sponsor: Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY). S.1361, 'Stop Crystal Meth Act of 2005,' was introduced 06/30/2005 to amend the Controlled Substances Act by lowering threshold quantities for methamphetamine so penalties would more closely mirror those for crack/cocaine base.
Current statutory thresholds in 21 U.S.C. §841 distinguish cocaine base (crack) (e.g., 28 g / 280 g tiers) from methamphetamine (e.g., 5 g / 50 g mixture and 50 g / 500 g mixture for higher tiers), showing different penalty-triggering quantities remain in law as of May 25, 2026.
Assessments
Schumer publicly pledged and formally sponsored legislation (S.1361, Stop Crystal Meth Act of 2005) to lower federal methamphetamine quantity thresholds and raise penalties to be equivalent to crack/cocaine-base penalties, demonstrating a serious legislative effort. However, the Controlled Substances Act as enacted and in force continues to have different quantity thresholds for cocaine base (crack) and methamphetamine (e.g., 28 g/280 g for crack vs. 5 g/50 g and 50 g/500 g for meth), so the promised statutory parity was not enacted. Therefore the policy was not delivered; because Schumer made a substantive legislative attempt that failed, effort_badge is true and timing is same_term (bill introduced in 2005).
Schumer publicly proposed legislation in 2006 to make methamphetamine penalties equivalent to crack cocaine penalties, which counts as a serious same-term legislative effort after the 2004 Senate campaign. However, current federal law still sets different threshold quantities for methamphetamine and cocaine base under 21 U.S.C. 841, so the promised outcome was not enacted or fully delivered.