Sentencing Guideline 2D1.1 (a) (2) applies a base base offense level of 38 in certain drug cases when the offense of conviction establishes that death or serious bodily injury resulted from the use of the substance Victimmeansapersonsubjectedtohumantrafficking. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Official websites use .gov Gastelum Avila faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for the drug conspiracy charge and a mandatory consecutive sentence of 30 years for the firearms offense. The results show that both jurisdictions have adopted sentencing guidelines that exhibit a logarithmic curve. Thus, in Hong Kong, 1000 grams, or one kilogram, of heroin or ketamine would result in an additional 132-month sentence, which is equivalent to 11 years. The defendant's culpability is not a factor in calculating the starting point. Category 3 consists of heroin, cocaine of 150 grams, ecstasy of 200 tablets, cannabis of 6 kilograms and ketamine of 150 grams. How can certain offences be compared to others on the basis of their seriousness? 
For comparison with England and Wales, this study looks at two drug tariffs: cocaine/heroin and ketamine.Footnote 75, Table 3. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Stories of addiction have captured the public's attention, thus impelling governments to respond with swift, certain, and severe punishment. Gastelum Avila is charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana intending and knowing that those substances would be imported into the United States. %PDF-1.5
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The unit of measurement for the slope is the months of sentence per gram of trafficked drug. Analysing the slopes and overall models, this study discusses the extent to which the current sentencing regimes accomplish deterrence, promote retributive justice, and adhere to the principle of proportionality. 90-95(h). The following tables summarise this:Footnote 76, Table 4. This signifies that an increase per additional gram trafficked from the lower threshold is equal in all categories, regardless of the offender's role. Five grams is the first drug weight category of the table, which provides the category's minimum and maximum drug weight (>0 grams to 10 grams). This computation provides the months added for each extra gram of drug in the respective category. The question then is what sentence reflects the level of the offender's culpability in inflicting harm? For instance, in a review of studies measuring imprisonment length and re-offending rate, Nagin, Cullen, and Jonson found little evidence on the connection between the length of incaceration and re-offending rate.Footnote 78 In a subsequent review by Jonson, it was even found that longer imprisonment sentences are associated with slightly higher rates of re-offending.Footnote 79, Figure 1. It has been observed that drug mules (often unaware of what they are transporting in their luggage) are the ones who are caught with substantial drug weights, while those with significant or leading roles in the drug trafficking ring carry small amounts so that, if caught, they will not have to face lengthy sentences.Footnote 68 Although 600 grams was initially considered a substantially heavy weight, the growth and trends in drug trafficking over the years necessitated further clarification of the sentencing bands. Keywords . Therefore, a defendant who trafficked 5 grams of cocaine in Hong Kong would have a starting sentence of 42 months. For instance, the Court of Appeal in R v Lau Tak Ming and Ors and HKSAR v Abdallah Anwar Abbas stipulated that the starting point of a sentence for trafficking heroin and cocaine ranges from 2 to 5 years imprisonment for weights up to 10 grams and increases to 26 and 30 years for large weights between 4 kilograms and 15 kilograms.Footnote 1. Published online by Cambridge University Press: After considering the quantity of drugs in this case, this court is of the view that the starting point of 24 years imprisonment in this case is manifestly excessive. In execution, larger drug weights imply a high risk of greater victimisation as the substantial supply could be divided among more users. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. The Court refers to such sentencing guidelines as drug tariffs for drug trafficking. The slope is calculated using the following equation (Equation 2): From the equation above, the slope can be calculated by dividing the difference between the minimum and maximum sentence for each categorical range by the upper and lower bounds of the category's drug weight. Given that the weight of the additional trafficked drug is the same in both scenarios, the slope indicates that jurisdiction B's guidelines are more lenient in regard to drug X. Intrajurisdiction comparisons can also be conducted using slopes of the guidelines linear functions to ascertain the types of drugs that are viewed as more harmful than others. (558.016) STATUTE DRUG AMOUNT FELONY CLASS SENTENCE 579.015 He was extradited from Mexico to the United States on April 1. Harper et al discovered that there was a preference for female couriers/mules as their punishments were usually mitigated based on the fact that most of them were mothers and poor foreigners.Footnote 25 However, this paternalistic treatment led to even harsher responses in cases where the defendants first pleaded not guilty and then later revealed exploitative circumstances leading to their involvement in trafficking. The starting point of such sentences depends on the type of drug and its weight. Von Hirsch concedes that cardinal proportionality guides only broad strokes for sentencers.Footnote 38 The obscurity in the guidelines for setting anchoring points allows flexibility for jurisdictions to determine the appropriate level of harshness based on their unique circumstances. Price (in either consumer or export market context) was ruled out as it was dependent on too [many external] factors [such as] the harvest in the Golden Triangle;Footnote 61 the overseas demand; and the adulteration of mixture.Footnote 62 The Court in Lau Tak Ming suggested that the existing method be retained. If this slope with jurisdiction B is compared with drug X having a slope of 1 with the same minimum weight category threshold, every additional gram of drug trafficked will add another month to the defendant's sentence. The constant decline of the purity levels of drugs made purity a problematic and far too variableFootnote 60 a measure for sentences. Slopes of the Functions for Ketamine Guidelines, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, https://www.unodc.org/pdf/technical_series_1995-03-01_1.pdf, http://fileserver.idpc.net/library/Drugs-crime-and-punishment-Proportionality-of-sentencing%20(1).pdf, https://www.beckleyfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/BF_Report_16.pdf, https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/20780/1/IDPC-briefing-paper_Sentencing-reform-for-drug-trafficking-in-the-UK.pdf, https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Drug-offences-guideline-assessment.pdf, https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Drug_mules_bulletin.pdf, https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi588, https://www.nd.gov.hk/pdf/BDF140030_report.pdf, https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/sentencing-and-the-council/about-the-sentencing-council/history/, https://www.ukdpc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Briefing%20-%20Submission%20to%20the%20Sentencing%20Council%20Drug%20Offences%20Guideline%20consultation.pdf, https://www.release.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf/publications/Sentencing%20Consultation%20Submission.pdf, https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Drug_Offences_Response-web2.pdf, https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Offences-Taken-into-Consideration-and-Totality-definitive-guideline-Web.pdf, https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/09_statistics/csc_2018_2019.html, https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/droppable/item/class-b-supplying-or-offering-to-supply-a-controlled-drug-possession-of-a-controlled-drug-with-intent-to-supply-it-to-another/. 78 Nagin, Dan, Cullen, Frank & Lero-Jonson, Cheryl, Imprisonment and reoffending, in Tonry, Michael (ed), Crime and Justice: A Review of Research (vol 38, Oxford University Press 2009)Google Scholar. Thus, the guidelines should follow the graph in Figure 1c, where the slope of each additional gram of trafficked drug is consistent across all drug band weights. An overall analysis of the slopes reveals that the Hong Kong guidelines provide a more comprehensive framework than the England and Wales guidelines with a wider range and increased divisions for the drug weight categories. Figure 6. They offered delivery services to their clients; they would meet up with clients at parking lots or wherever it was convenient to their customers. Considering the downward trend of product purity of the drugs being sold, the judge stressed the need to take into account the rapid changes that have occurred and to at least attempt to provide assistance that can cover future trends.Footnote 58 The Court also warned that this trend of lower purity increases the dangers posed by drug abuse, as less pure drugs increase the risk of impurities entering the bloodstream.Footnote 59 The judgement also emphasised the hazards that drugs pose to society (for both individual and community health and the proliferation of deviance), with its ultimate goal being the ability of the guidelines to respond not only to the changing trends of drug trafficking (eg, purity dropping), but also to future shifts in practice. 9 Jennifer Fleetwood, Sentencing reform for drug trafficking in England and Wales (International Drug Policy Consortium Briefing Paper, Apr 2015) accessed 16 Mar 2022. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. WebThe law was called Structured Sentencing and applies to all felony and misdemeanor crimes (except Driving While Impaired and Drug Trafficking) committed on or after October 1, However, the debate on proportionality has not reached a satisfying resolution. WebMandatory Minimums: Under NC G.S. In determining a sentence, the court must have regard to the purposes of sentencing specified under section 57(2) of the Sentencing Act 2020, they are: the punishment of the offender; the reduction of crime (including through deterrence); reform and rehabilitation; the protection of the public; and making reparations. The Sentencing Commission examined past federal sentencing practices as a starting "Ikq`: In January 2016, Mexican authorities arrested Gastelum Avila and Guzman Loera together in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, as they attempted to flee arrest. The United States requested his provisional arrest in February 2020 and Mexican authorities arrested Gastelum Avila based on that request in March 2020. This handout presents a brief overview of the Commission's 2022 reports, Recidivism and Federal Bureau of Prisons. Trafficking and use of cocaine has a close connection with violent crime. 20 May 2022. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. 8 Dave Bewley-Taylor, Chris Hallam & Rob Allen, The incarceration of drug offenders: An Overview (International Centre for Prison Studies The Beckley Foundation Report No 16, Mar 2009) accessed 16 Mar 2022. Particularly in the lower category ranges, Hong Kong's sentencing guidelines more closely equate to England and Wales sentence for defendants with leading roles rather than lesser or significant roles. 12 That is, the offender's role in the commission of the offense, their intent, and whether they are mentally capable to tell right from wrong. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. As a result, the Hague Convention of 1912 and subsequent conventions were established with the common goal of bringing an end to illicit drug trade. Sentence Starting Point for Ketamine/Ecstasy in Months (Hong Kong). WebDrug Trafficking Sentencing. According to the Court, Purity analysis is essential for sentencing purposes for cases of importation, or in other circumstances, where 500 grammes or more of cocaine, heroin or amphetamine are seized. 32 The first international treaty for such a response was the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (n 5). It provides sentencers with a two-step process in determining the starting point of a sentence.Footnote 55 As part of the determination of the offence category in step one, there are dual considerations of assessing the offender's culpability and the harm caused, with the latter mainly based on the quantity of drugs. 67 Official English translation quoted in HKSAR v Abdallah Anwar Abbas (n 1) paras 19. Regarding sentencing guidelines in particular, Hong Kong adopts a different modus operandi from England and Wales in two respects: defenders culpability and the standard of punitive measures. A comparison of the slopes will provide a more nuanced understanding of how the guidelines are developed to penalise offenders. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. Using an example to emphasise the disparity between the sentencing guidelines, a sentence for 10 grams of cocaine and heroin would result in an approximate two-month difference between the most punitive and most lenient sentences in England and Wales, while the same dosage would result in a 36-month difference between the most punitive and most lenient sentences in Hong Kong. Using these three models as baseline comparisons helps to ascertain whether the guidelines represent a logarithmic, proportional, or exponential sentencing mechanism for drug trafficking. Gastelum Avila faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for the drug conspiracy charge and a mandatory consecutive sentence of 30 years for the firearms offense. There were 685 responses. [ 11] Indictable offences are more serious offences triable before a judge and jury in the County or Supreme Court. Evidence on lower culpability would be considered under judicial discretion to arrive at a fairer and proportional sentence for drug mules who carry substantial amounts of drugs.Footnote 88. These case laws focus on issues related to hard drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, ice, ketamine, and ecstasy, and sentencing is based on the drug type and weight. 0
30 Anthony Morgan & Alex Gannoni, Methamphetamine dependence and domestic violence among police detainees (Australian Institute of Criminology Research Series on Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice no 588, Feb 2020) accessed 16 Mar 2022; Cherry H Tam et al, Hidden drug abuse in Hong Kong: From social acquaintance to social isolation (2018) 9 Frontiers in Psychiatry 457; United Nations International Drug Control Programme (n 4); Paul SF Yip, Assessing the socioeconomic costs of drug abuse in Hong Kong SAR (HKJC Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Sep 2017) accessed 16 Mar 2022. Figure 6 presents a logarithmic curve of sentencing guidelines for ketamine in Hong Kong. This study compares drug trafficking sentencing guidelines in England and Wales and Hong Kong. Trial Attorney Kirk Handrich of the Criminal Divisions Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section is prosecuting the case. Between 15 January 2020 and 7 May 2020 the Council consulted on revisions to the drug offences guidelines and new draft guidelines covering offences provided for by the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016. The charges filed against Mingues carry a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of life, a fine of up to $10,000,000, and a term of supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life. Figure 4 presents the linear functions of both jurisdictions within the prescribed range of 5000 grams. Is drug trafficking more, less, or as serious as aggravated assault or burglary? Federal Register Notice of Amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines for United States Courts. At first glance, these ranges seem to make intuitive sense based on observed practices by street dealers and wholesale traffickers, and reflect the principle of proportionalityFootnote 2 the more drugs an offender traffics, the longer the imprisonment sentence. The slopes between the second and third weight categories at 50 grams have a discernible difference towards a plateau. WebDrug Trafficking Sentencing; Prayer for Judgment Continued; Limitations on More Severe Sentence; Sex Offenders. Cocaine and Heroin Starting Sentence Points by Drug Weights for each Offender Role Category (England and Wales). However, upon closer scrutiny, smaller weights are associated with sentences that increase at a higher rate than higher weight ranges. Approach to the assessment of fines - introduction, 6. hVmkG+! Research Assistant, Faculty Of Law, The Chinese University Of Hong Kong. Do not retain this copy. In Figures 4 and 7, Hong Kong's linear functions are much steeper than England and Wales, specifically in the lower drug categories, where a majority of sentences lie. The Guideline covers most drug trafficking offenses committed after November 1, 1987. 563 0 obj
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Using the measure of drug weight, an exponential curve model would present a proportional response and alleged deterrent effect. The slope of each linear function highlights the added sentence for an additional gram of drugs for each sentence category. The former aims to prevent crime by sending a message to would-be offenders of the negative consequences of committing the particular offence, whereas the latter focuses on preventing a repeat offence by a specific offender to demonstrate to the offender that crime does not pay. The new guidelines will For 14 grams of ketamine, each gram would add only 0.9 months to its categorical minimum sentence length. Prevalence and community impact statements, General guideline: overarching principles, Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea - first hearing on or after 1 June 2017, Sentencing offenders with mental disorders, developmental disorders, or neurological impairments, How to use the pronouncement-card builder, section 3 (and Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (section 170(2)) fraudulent evasion of a prohibition by bringing into or taking out of the UK a controlled drug, section 4(3) supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug, section 5(3) possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply it to another, section 4(2)(a) or (b) production of a controlled drug, section 6(2) cultivation of a cannabis plant, section 8 permitting premises to be used for drug-related activity, section 5(2) possession of a controlled drug, section 4 producing a psychoactive substance, section 5 supplying, or offering to supply, a psychoactive substance, section 7 possession of a psychoactive substance with intent to supply, section 8 importing or exporting a psychoactive substance, section 9 possession of a psychoactive substance in a custodial institution. Especially in the earlier weight categories, specifically ranging from 0 grams to 150 grams, England and Wales only use one weight category while that range encompasses three weight categories in Hong Kong. Table 6. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the National University of Singapore. Like with cocaine and heroin, there are a greater number of drug weight categories in Hong Kong than in England and Wales. This website is produced and published at U.S. taxpayer expense. For example, in Hong Kong, each gram in 7 grams of ketamine would attract a sentence of approximately 2.7 months in addition to the minimum sentence length of the corresponding category. Harsh sentences are considered necessary to serve as deterrence to drug trafficking.Footnote 3 The rationale behind this reasoning is the harmful effect of drug addiction suffered by drug users and the detrimental impact of drugs on the social fabric of the community.Footnote 4 This was a central issue concerning drug-related offences in the latter half of the 20th century.Footnote 5 The United Nations directed states to address the manufacturing, supply, and non-medical use of drugs.Footnote 6 States, including Britain, convened at the United States behest to establish (stricter) regulations on the humanitarian grounds for curbing drug abuse. To ascertain the arithmetic starting point, the drug weight and sentence thresholds must be used. 14 Hirsch, Andreas von, Proportionality in the Philosophy of Punishment (1992) 16 Crime and Justice 55Google Scholar. Instead, the upper thresholds of the first and second categories exceed the lower thresholds of the second and third categories, respectively.
Imposition of fines with custodial sentences, 2. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, Acting Executive Associate Director Steve K. Francis of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBIs Criminal Investigative Division, and Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office made the announcement. Butler Township man pleads guilty to gun, drug crimes punishable by at least 15 years in prison DAYTON, Ohio Timothy Jefferson, 46, of Butler Township, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to drug and gun crimes that carry a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to life in federal prison. This can be attributed to how the sentencing guidelines are written, ie, where a recommended starting point is listed along with the lower and upper sentence thresholds. The arithmetic starting point is the sentence length that judges should use as a starting point, and it is dictated by guidelines laid down to ensure consistency across drug trafficking offences. Disqualification of company directors, 16. Each year, the Commission reviews and refines these policies in light of congressional action, decisions from courts of appeals, sentencing-related research, and input from the criminal justice community. Corresponding linear graphs were then created for each guideline. The consequence would be inverse to that of the graph in Figure 1a, where the trafficking of heavier drugs weights would face an expotentially heavier sentence than the trafficking of smaller drug weights. This arrest operation is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program. (83 FR 3869). In the case of Lau Tak Ming, this court stated that 20 years imprisonment is an extremely heavy punishment. The former is about the ranking of various criminal offences based on their seriousness, where offenders convicted of crimes of a comparable seriousness should receive sentences of a comparable severity, and the latter requires that the sentence should not be too severe or too lenient to the gravity of the offence in question.Footnote 15 Therefore, a sentence should not be grossly excessive; it should reflect the extent to which the offender is deemed responsible for the consequences of their actions.Footnote 16 However, there are obvious difficulties in ranking different offences. However, the onus is placed on the judges to scrutinise each case for any additional signs of culpability. Today, I want to thank my FBI Aguadilla Team for helping me make good on that promise," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph Gonzlez. However, for the sake of retributive justice, the harm caused must be considered. Contrary to initial assumptions that the more offensive the offender role, the steeper the slope, the lesser category has a steeper slope than the significant role. While England and Wales sentencing guidelines and judgements, provide guidelines for determining culpability, the delineation between offender roles is still debatable and can lead to sentencing challenges. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Web710A.1,HUMANTRAFFICKING 2 13. 57 See UK Sentencing Council, Offenses Taken into Consideration and Totality: Definitive Guideline (6 Mar 2012) accessed 16 Mar 2022. Through cross-comparative analysis, the methodologies judges use to arrive at the starting point of sentencing and the assumptions behind the sentencing guidelines are revealed. In England and Wales, individual drug types are placed into three different categories (Classes A, B, and C), depending on the drug's potency. An official website of the United States Government. As sentence lengths are a composite of a defendant's culpability and risk of harm, an exponential model incorporates the assumption that the risk of harm exponentially increases as the trafficked drug weight linearly increases. Slopes of the Functions for Cocaine and Heroin Guidelines. He was extradited from Mexico to the United States on April 1. This led to a War on Drugs that encouraged severe penalties for drug trafficking.Footnote 7 Criminology scholars studying the effectiveness of the harsh sentences in curbing drug trafficking found that the deterrence was limited and that the sentences were disproportionately applied to less culpable offenders.Footnote 8 This resulted in the question of the extent to which the proportionality principle was adhered to in drug trafficking sentences. Download PDF . Destruction orders and contingent destruction orders for dogs, 9. Total loading time: 0 Senate Bill 793 reduced some of Oklahomas harsh drug crime sentencing practices The legislature showed a commitment to criminal justice reform by approving SB 793 in 2018. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 37 Sevigny, Eric L & Caulkins, Jonathan P, Kingpins or mules: An analysis of drug offenders incarcerated in federal and state prisons (2004) 3 Criminology and Public Policy 401CrossRefGoogle Scholar. (83 FR 3869), The Commission received comment on proposed amendments related to synthetic drugs. In Hong Kong, drug trafficking is regulated through ordinances. The case studies of these drug mules by Harper et al and Fleetwood suggest the need to consider the level of involvement in the actual conspiracy of drug trafficking. For instance, for cocaine and heroin, the largest slope is 0.248 months of sentence per gram of trafficked drug in England and Wales, while the largest slope in Hong Kong is 3.6 months of sentence per gram of trafficked drug, which is more than ten times greater. 43 R v Morris [2001] 1 Cr App R (S) 87 para 21. The Commission collects, analyzes, and disseminates a broad array of information on federal crime and sentencing practices. Figure 2. How Indonesia can lead a new global approach to treating drug traffickers as human trafficked victims (2018) 8 Asian Journal of International Law 166. 841(b) & 960(b) Federal Drug Trafficking Convictions: Sentencing Guidelines Reduction of 2014. Although the slopes themselves are similar across offenders role categories, the minimum thresholds clearly distinguish the sentencing ranges. Deterrence can be viewed through general and specific deterrence. 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For comparison with England and Wales, this study looks at two drug tariffs: cocaine/heroin and ketamine.Footnote 75, Table 3. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Stories of addiction have captured the public's attention, thus impelling governments to respond with swift, certain, and severe punishment. Gastelum Avila is charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana intending and knowing that those substances would be imported into the United States. %PDF-1.5
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The unit of measurement for the slope is the months of sentence per gram of trafficked drug. Analysing the slopes and overall models, this study discusses the extent to which the current sentencing regimes accomplish deterrence, promote retributive justice, and adhere to the principle of proportionality. 90-95(h). The following tables summarise this:Footnote 76, Table 4. This signifies that an increase per additional gram trafficked from the lower threshold is equal in all categories, regardless of the offender's role. Five grams is the first drug weight category of the table, which provides the category's minimum and maximum drug weight (>0 grams to 10 grams). This computation provides the months added for each extra gram of drug in the respective category. The question then is what sentence reflects the level of the offender's culpability in inflicting harm? For instance, in a review of studies measuring imprisonment length and re-offending rate, Nagin, Cullen, and Jonson found little evidence on the connection between the length of incaceration and re-offending rate.Footnote 78 In a subsequent review by Jonson, it was even found that longer imprisonment sentences are associated with slightly higher rates of re-offending.Footnote 79, Figure 1. It has been observed that drug mules (often unaware of what they are transporting in their luggage) are the ones who are caught with substantial drug weights, while those with significant or leading roles in the drug trafficking ring carry small amounts so that, if caught, they will not have to face lengthy sentences.Footnote 68 Although 600 grams was initially considered a substantially heavy weight, the growth and trends in drug trafficking over the years necessitated further clarification of the sentencing bands. Keywords . Therefore, a defendant who trafficked 5 grams of cocaine in Hong Kong would have a starting sentence of 42 months. For instance, the Court of Appeal in R v Lau Tak Ming and Ors and HKSAR v Abdallah Anwar Abbas stipulated that the starting point of a sentence for trafficking heroin and cocaine ranges from 2 to 5 years imprisonment for weights up to 10 grams and increases to 26 and 30 years for large weights between 4 kilograms and 15 kilograms.Footnote 1. Published online by Cambridge University Press: After considering the quantity of drugs in this case, this court is of the view that the starting point of 24 years imprisonment in this case is manifestly excessive. In execution, larger drug weights imply a high risk of greater victimisation as the substantial supply could be divided among more users. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. The Court refers to such sentencing guidelines as drug tariffs for drug trafficking. The slope is calculated using the following equation (Equation 2): From the equation above, the slope can be calculated by dividing the difference between the minimum and maximum sentence for each categorical range by the upper and lower bounds of the category's drug weight. Given that the weight of the additional trafficked drug is the same in both scenarios, the slope indicates that jurisdiction B's guidelines are more lenient in regard to drug X. Intrajurisdiction comparisons can also be conducted using slopes of the guidelines linear functions to ascertain the types of drugs that are viewed as more harmful than others. (558.016) STATUTE DRUG AMOUNT FELONY CLASS SENTENCE 579.015 He was extradited from Mexico to the United States on April 1. Harper et al discovered that there was a preference for female couriers/mules as their punishments were usually mitigated based on the fact that most of them were mothers and poor foreigners.Footnote 25 However, this paternalistic treatment led to even harsher responses in cases where the defendants first pleaded not guilty and then later revealed exploitative circumstances leading to their involvement in trafficking. The starting point of such sentences depends on the type of drug and its weight. Von Hirsch concedes that cardinal proportionality guides only broad strokes for sentencers.Footnote 38 The obscurity in the guidelines for setting anchoring points allows flexibility for jurisdictions to determine the appropriate level of harshness based on their unique circumstances. Price (in either consumer or export market context) was ruled out as it was dependent on too [many external] factors [such as] the harvest in the Golden Triangle;Footnote 61 the overseas demand; and the adulteration of mixture.Footnote 62 The Court in Lau Tak Ming suggested that the existing method be retained. If this slope with jurisdiction B is compared with drug X having a slope of 1 with the same minimum weight category threshold, every additional gram of drug trafficked will add another month to the defendant's sentence. The constant decline of the purity levels of drugs made purity a problematic and far too variableFootnote 60 a measure for sentences. Slopes of the Functions for Ketamine Guidelines, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, https://www.unodc.org/pdf/technical_series_1995-03-01_1.pdf, http://fileserver.idpc.net/library/Drugs-crime-and-punishment-Proportionality-of-sentencing%20(1).pdf, https://www.beckleyfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/BF_Report_16.pdf, https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/20780/1/IDPC-briefing-paper_Sentencing-reform-for-drug-trafficking-in-the-UK.pdf, https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Drug-offences-guideline-assessment.pdf, https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Drug_mules_bulletin.pdf, https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi588, https://www.nd.gov.hk/pdf/BDF140030_report.pdf, https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/sentencing-and-the-council/about-the-sentencing-council/history/, https://www.ukdpc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Briefing%20-%20Submission%20to%20the%20Sentencing%20Council%20Drug%20Offences%20Guideline%20consultation.pdf, https://www.release.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf/publications/Sentencing%20Consultation%20Submission.pdf, https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Drug_Offences_Response-web2.pdf, https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Offences-Taken-into-Consideration-and-Totality-definitive-guideline-Web.pdf, https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/09_statistics/csc_2018_2019.html, https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/droppable/item/class-b-supplying-or-offering-to-supply-a-controlled-drug-possession-of-a-controlled-drug-with-intent-to-supply-it-to-another/. 78 Nagin, Dan, Cullen, Frank & Lero-Jonson, Cheryl, Imprisonment and reoffending, in Tonry, Michael (ed), Crime and Justice: A Review of Research (vol 38, Oxford University Press 2009)Google Scholar. Thus, the guidelines should follow the graph in Figure 1c, where the slope of each additional gram of trafficked drug is consistent across all drug band weights. An overall analysis of the slopes reveals that the Hong Kong guidelines provide a more comprehensive framework than the England and Wales guidelines with a wider range and increased divisions for the drug weight categories. Figure 6. They offered delivery services to their clients; they would meet up with clients at parking lots or wherever it was convenient to their customers. Considering the downward trend of product purity of the drugs being sold, the judge stressed the need to take into account the rapid changes that have occurred and to at least attempt to provide assistance that can cover future trends.Footnote 58 The Court also warned that this trend of lower purity increases the dangers posed by drug abuse, as less pure drugs increase the risk of impurities entering the bloodstream.Footnote 59 The judgement also emphasised the hazards that drugs pose to society (for both individual and community health and the proliferation of deviance), with its ultimate goal being the ability of the guidelines to respond not only to the changing trends of drug trafficking (eg, purity dropping), but also to future shifts in practice. 9 Jennifer Fleetwood, Sentencing reform for drug trafficking in England and Wales (International Drug Policy Consortium Briefing Paper, Apr 2015)