TOO HARSH ON DRUG OFFENDERS

Manhattan - Contrary to the assertions of Queens District Attorney Richard
Brown in "Rockefeller drug laws don't need changing" (Opinion, March 5),
reform of the laws is necessary to reduce unnecessary and expensive
incarceration, enhance public safety and ensure that punishments meted out
by the courts more closely fit the circumstances of the crime and the
offender. Brown says that most drug offenders who are locked up are
big-time, violent dealers. According to the state's own statistics, this is
not true. While many offenders sell small quantities of drugs to support
their addictions, they are nonviolent. But they are imprisoned because our
drug laws require those convicted of two felonies to be incarcerated, even
if they have sold only one vial of crack.

Many of these individuals have never had an opportunity to get treatment.
These laws waste enormous human and financial resources and fail to address
effectively the addiction that underlies most drug offenses.

Anita R. Marton, Legal Action Center