WOMEN AND DRUG LAWS

To the Editor:

Re "Signs of a Thaw in the War on Drugs" (news article, Jan. 21) and
"Overhauling New York's Drug Laws" (editorial, Jan. 21):

Incarcerated women in New York are far more likely than their male
counterparts to be drug offenders. Approximately two-thirds of all women in
the state's penal institutions were committed for a drug offense. Women in
prison are often first-time offenders, but under the Rockefeller drug laws
they are separated from their families and given 15 years to life based
solely on the actual weight of illegal substances. Judges are denied
discretion to consider a defendant's background, lack of criminal record or
actual role in drug transactions.

We endorse the plan of Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye and Deputy Chief
Administrative Judge Joseph J. Traficanti Jr. to institute the nation's
first statewide initiative offering court-supervised drug treatment to all
nonviolent offenders, respondents in our family courts and juveniles.

DEBORAH KAPLAN

President, Women's Bar Association

of the State of New York

New York, Jan. 22, 2001