own racial or ethnic background. But, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, about 73 percent of all drug offenders sentenced in 2018 were African American and Hispanic, many of whom are low-level offenders. (12) As a result of Federal prosecutors’ focus on low-level drug offenders, the overwhelming majority of individuals subject to the heightened crack cocaine penalties are African American. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, in fiscal year 2016, of those offenders sentenced on Federal crack cocaine charges, only 5.5 percent were White, while 82.6 percent and 11.4 percent were African American and Hispanic, respectively. (13) According to the U.S. Census, African Americans comprise 13.3 percent of the U.S. population, but according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, in fiscal year 2018 African Americans made up 24.9 percent of all drug trafficking offenders. (14) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, in fiscal year 2016, about 34.6 percent of women entering Federal prison did so for a drug offense. Linking drug quantity with punishment severity has had a particularly profound impact on women, who are historically more likely to play peripheral roles in a drug enterprise than men. However, because prosecutors can attach drug quantities to an individual regardless of the level of a defendant’s participation in the charged offense, women have been exposed to increasingly punitive sentences. (15) Low-level and mid-level drug offenders can be adequately prosecuted by the States and punished or supervised in treatment as appropriate. (16) Congress has an obligation to taxpayers to use sentencing policies that are cost-effective and increase public safety, in addition to establishing a criminal justice system that is fair, efficient, and provides just sentences for offenders. Mandatory sentences have not been conclusively shown to reduce recidivism or deter crime. (17) The limited resources in the Federal criminal justice system should be used to protect society by incapacitating dangerous and