The Ohio Senate marched resolutely backward Tuesday as it passed a measure, Senate Bill 73 that would eliminate the disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine -- by raising sentences for powder cocaine to make them as harsh as those for crack. The measure now heads for the Ohio House.

In a reflection of federal laws that treat crack cocaine much more harshly than powder cocaine, Ohio state law makes possession of only 25 grams of crack a first-degree felony, while it takes 500 grams -- or 20 times as much -- powder cocaine to trigger the same charge. Ohio law makes any cocaine sales offense an offense "for which there is a presumption of a prison term" and calls for mandatory minimum prison sentences for any cocaine sale of five grams or more of crack or 10 grams of powder cocaine.

While black lawmakers in the Buckeye State have been calling for years for a measure to redress the disparity in sentencing, this is probably not what they had in mind. But the sponsor of the bill, State Sen. Ray Miller (D-Columbus), said upping the penalties for powder offenses was key to winning passage.

"We've got a growing problem in our rural areas of the state, and many of these members are well aware of the problem," Miller told the Cleveland Plain Dealer after the vote. That "broader understanding" that Ohio drug problems were not limited to inner city street corners swayed legislators, he said. "Fundamentally, equalizing the penalties at a higher level as opposed to bringing them down was key to passage," Miller said.

Some legislators who supported the bill did so despite concerns it could cost money. According to a nonpartisan fiscal analysis of the measure, it will cost $25 million a year or more in increased prison costs.

"That's real money," said State Sen. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati), who voted for the bill anyway. "And that's what happens when we equalize penalties at a higher rate."

Miller retorted that the cost argument "doesn't hold much water" because ending the distinction will cause judges to opt for treatment over prison for cocaine offenders. "In the long term, I think it will help to reduce the prison population because there is a race factor involved, there is an economic factor involved. Now some of the judges are going to have to look at things a little differently," Miller said.

But Miller's retort doesn't hold much water given that the law mandates prison sentences for most cocaine sales offenses.

The Ohio Senate's move to stiffen powder cocaine penalties comes as the US Sentencing Commission, the US Supreme Court, and the Congress are all contemplating ways to undo the federal powder-crack cocaine sentencing disparity. None of those institutions are contemplating doing so by raising the penalties for powder cocaine offenses to the level of crack cocaine.