SENTENCES FOR DRUG OFFENSES SHORTER

WASHINGTON -- Despite a massive expansion of the nation's drug war,
narcotics traffickers and users busted by federal law-enforcement agencies
are doing far less time in prison than in years past, according to
interviews and new data released on Sunday.

Researchers at Syracuse University said startling new statistics suggest
that federal authorities are failing to target the most dangerous drug
kingpins and the most drug-infested areas, focusing instead on lower-level
marijuana crimes.

As a result, judges may be meting out shorter sentences -- a result of
weaker cases or less serious offenses, the researchers said.

Whatever the explanation, the reduction of drug sentences appears
particularly severe in Southern California, according to the new
statistics, which are based on the federal government's computerized data
obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Notorious as a gateway for drug importers, Southern California once meted
out the toughest drug sentences in the country, according to the most
recent statistics compiled by TRAC, the Transactional Records Access
Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. But the group's study shows that
penalties in that region have shrunk by more than half, from an average
federal sentence of 18 years in 1992 to seven years in 1998.

Nationwide, federal drug sentences fell 22 percent over the same period,
even as the number of drug prosecutions and convictions reached record
levels, the study found. Working on the assumption that more-populated
areas have more drug activity, the researchers ranked 90 federal court
districts by the number of federal drug referrals per capita.

Several experts in the law-enforcement and drug communities said they were
surprised by the findings. No one seemed certain how to explain them, but
all agreed that the statistics -- particularly the severe drop in drug
sentences -- are worth closer scrutiny and could mark a potentially
significant trend with broad implications for anti-narcotics enforcement.

TRAC, a nonprofit research organization, has been a thorn in the
government's side in recent years, suing repeatedly -- and successfully --
under the Freedom of Information Act for access to data that the government
had refused to divulge.

Justice Department spokesman John Russell said the department "believes
there are a number of reasons for the decline in length of drug sentences,"
including relaxation of some minimum sentencing guidelines.

DEA spokesman Terry Parham added, "We are reviewing the study itself and we
are working with TRAC, because we found some discrepancies in their numbers."