All those DARE programs always told you that using or selling drugs even once would ruin your whole life and that was the case for Telisha Watkins. Watkins was sentenced to 20 years in jail in 2004 for a single sale of crack cocaine, which she thought to be ordinary cocaine. Watkins had organised the sale as a favour to an old neighbour who, as it turns out, was in fact a police informant. Watkins had struggled with drugs since the age of 14 and dropped out of high school following a freshman year pregnancy. Her sentence served to truly derail her life, jailing her until 2024 even though the dealer who actually perpetrated the sale has been out of jail since 2008. Watkins' sentence is most shocking due to the bizarre disparity between sentences for cocaine and crack cocaine although Columbia psychology professor and drug abuse expert Dr Carl Hart maintains there is little difference in danger between the two drugs and the harsh sentences for use of crack cocaine are simple a way of targeting impoverished black communities where use of crack is more common than in wealthier, white communities.
David O'Donoghue is a student and freelance writer from Co. Kerry, Ireland. His writing has appeared in the Irish Independent, Film Ireland, Ultraculture.com, Listverse and he is the former Political Editor for Campus.ie. He also writes short fiction and poetry which can be found at his blog/spellbook davidjodonoghue.tumblr.com
