FINALLY: A FEEL-GOOD STORY ABOUT DRUGS IN THE INNER-CITY

Did you know that selling crack cocaine gets you a longer prison sentence than selling an equivalent amount of cocaine in its powdered form? Well, it does, and this has resulted in more jail time for convicted black drug-dealers than white drug-dealers, because the former are more likely to sell crack than the latter (no joke). This injustice may soon be remedied, however, due to an innovative program funded by the Ford Foundation to the tune of $57 million over the next three years. The initiative, dubbed "Operation Talcum," will provide inner-city black youth in 25 metropolitan areas with training in the marketing and distribution of powdered cocaine. According to Tiffany van Wyssen, Vice President for Urban Affairs at the Foundation, "Our goal is to have black drug dealers selling as much powdered cocaine as white dealers by the year 2011. We believe Operation Talcum can accomplish this. If the United States is truly committed to racial equality in the 21st century, we can ill afford to settle for less."

Grin wholeheartedly agrees.