Nation IN BRIEF : NATIONWIDE : Penalties for Drugs, Alcohol Compared

Racial and class differences may be responsible for major disparities between the harsh prison sentences given to drug offenders, who are often low-income black or Latino males, and generally lighter sentences given to drunk drivers, who are predominantly white males, a study reported. The study, by the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit organization that promotes alternatives to imprisonment, noted that drunk drivers cause an estimated 22,000 deaths annually, with overall alcohol-related deaths totaling 94,000. Drug-related deaths, it said, total 21,000.