Nearly 1,500 Florida crack cocaine felons have a chance at early release, thanks to sentencing-guideline changes intended to ease disparities between rock and powder cocaine cases.

Florida civil liberties advocates hail the changes as a step toward ending much stiffer sentences for crack users that have had a disproportionate impact on blacks for 20 years.

But the changes concern some in local law enforcement, who say low-priced crack poses a greater danger.

"I'm not saying they can't get hooked on powder, but crack seems to have more potency and you have more problems over it," Palm Beach County sheriff's spokesman Paul Miller said. "There's a direct connection between the distribution of crack cocaine and its effects on violent crime in the community."

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