Tracknum: .000701bf2bc2.9315ea40.2044bed1 Pubdate: Wed, 10 Nov 1999 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 1999 Associated Press Note: We have received a note indicating that the actual rollcall vote will be posted by late Thursday at: http://www.famm.org/latest.htm SENATE ADOPTS MEASURE TO REDUCE COCAINE SENTENCE DISPARITY WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate voted today to stiffen the penalty for the sale of powder cocaine, bringing the penalty closer to that prescribed for selling crack cocaine. The measure also would increase penalties for sales of all illegal drugs to minors and for selling them near schools and other places where young people congregate. ``We must act to prevent our youth from ever starting down the path of drug abuse,'' said the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who wrote the provision. The vote was 50-49 for the measure, which would reduce the sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine by tightening the penalty against dealers of the powder. It responds to complaints that a 1996 law making the penalties for selling crack cocaine more stringent than for the sale of powder cocaine has unfairly resulted in harsher sentences for blacks than whites. The presumption is that more blacks use crack cocaine and that more whites use powder. The provision was attached to a major bill pending in the Senate to overhaul bankruptcy laws.