Quantity Dependent Sentencing Ranges, the Drug Equivalency Table, and 'Oxycodone (Actual)'

Abstract

The sentencing ranges for controlled substance offenses in violation of federal law are largely dependent on the type and quantity of the drug involved in the offense This dependence is followed with expanded coverage under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. For most controlled substance offenses involving opiates, including the prescription opiate oxycodone, the guideline sentencing range is determined by application of the Drug Equivalency Table. This Table translates quantities of differing controlled substances into marijuana quantity equivalents. The applicable guideline sentencing range is, in turn, based on the marijuana equivalent quantity. As the result of guideline amendments effective November 1, 2003, one gram of is the equivalent for guideline sentencing purposes of 6.7 kilograms of marijuana. The same Drug Equivalency Table equates one gram of heroin with one kilogram of marijuana. The comparison appears counter-intuitive, but there is a difference. For the great majority of controlled substances, including heroin, statutory and guideline measurements include the weight of the carrier medium without regard for the percentage of the total weight attributable the controlled substance alone. Oxycodone (actual), in apparent contrast, is described as referring to the weight of the controlled substance, itself, contained in the pill, capsule, or mixture. Though fundamentally misleading, this description suggests a difference in the manner of measuring oxycodone quantities and has thus far preserved from successful constitutional attack the substantial drug equivalency disparities between oxycodone and heroin. Although there may be a rational basis for making sentencing distinctions between different forms of quantity measurements, an analysis of the process leading the Sentencing Commission's application of a 6.7 kilogram marijuana equivalency one gram of oxycodone (actual) reveals that this equivalence has little, if anything, do with oxycodone in its actual or pure state or with any reasonable equivalence comparison of oxycodone heroin, any other opiate, or any other controlled substance.