Barack Obama is advocating a change in drug-sentencing laws in order to address the severe differences in sentencing for powder versus crack cocaine.

"If you're convicted of a crime involving drugs, of course you should be punished," Obama said at Howard University's opening convocation. "But let's not make the punishment for crack cocaine that much more severe than the punishment for powder cocaine when the real difference is where the people are using them or who is using them."

Obama also discussed the Jena Six controversy: "Like Katrina did with poverty, Jena exposed glaring inequities in our justice system that were around long before that schoolyard fight broke out."

Obama could be taking a risk in discussing cocaine sentencing laws — in his first book, Dreams From My Father, he discussed his own drug experiences, including cocaine.