Most of the news articles we've seen regarding the probe into Noelle Bush's alleged "cocaine possession" at a drug treatment facility fail to mention that the substance allegedly found in her shoe was crack cocaine, not powder.

This is significant because under federal law, the penalties for crack cocaine remain 100 times higher than the penalties for powder cocaine.

The Washington Post article says "a two gram rock of crack cocaine" was found in Ms. Bush's shoe. Five grams of crack under federal law gets you a five year mandatory minimum penalty. Five grams of powder, if for personal use, is a misdemeanor, with probation likely.

The point of publicizing this is not to trash Noelle Bush, or even her father, whom we would like to see replaced as governor of Florida. It is to highlight the injustice of the crack laws, and to put people on notice to watch for any preferential treatment since the offense is legally considered to be so much more serious than one involving cocaine powder.

And to wonder why the press, with the exception of the Washington Post, has been avoiding the use of the nasty word "crack" thus far.