OUTDATED DRUG LAWS

To the Editor:

In "Effort to Ease Drug Terms Stalls in Albany" (news article, June 14),
one official said efforts to reform New York's drug sentencing laws needed
a "spark." How about this? It costs more than $715 million per year to
house drug offenders in state prisons.

The toll in human terms is similarly profound as families and communities
are devastated by the loss of people who provide financial and emotional
support. Perhaps most telling, a recent survey by my organization found
that 67 percent of candidates for the 2000 Legislature felt that drug laws
had not helped deter drug crime, and 80 percent favored giving judges
discretion over the mandatory sentences.

There are plenty of sparks out there. What appear to be lacking are the
will, resolve and creativity necessary to fashion a solution.

STEVEN ZEIDMAN
Executive Director, Committee for Modern Courts
New York, June 14, 2001