on October 27, President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 into law. The sweeping legislation added $1.7 billion in federal funds to the $2.2 billion already spent each year on law enforcement, drug treatment, and education programs. Just as the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 had, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act increased the number of drug offenses with mandatory minimum sentences. It established a mandatory minimum sentence of five years without parole for possession of five grams of crack cocaine—the same minimum sentence mandated for possession of five hundred grams of the
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