PATAKI TRIES, AGAIN, ON DRUG LAWS

Even if Gov. George Pataki is being spurred by the election-year enticement
of the nonwhite vote, he has to be credited for his repeated insistence
that something be done to reform the so-called Rockefeller drug laws.

In fact, if the state Legislature can respond to the the governor's latest
call, drug-law reform could be the most significant effort of this
otherwise lackluster budget and lawmaking session.

Last week, the governor made his third proposal since hinging his 2001
State of the State address on drug-law reform. Some critics contend that
his effort has intensified only due to the election year, and the growing
prominence of the issue among black and Latino voters.

Opponents to the 1973 laws, enacted under Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, say they
are too harsh, overfill prisons without hope of drug treatment, don't curb
drug use and disproportionately affect nonwhite people, the bulk of drug
convicts.

Wednesday was the anniversary of the laws' enactment, considered to be
among the harshest in the nation. About 21,000 inmates are serving time for
drug convictions, Yancey Roy of our Albany Bureau reported Friday. There
were 20 state prisons in 1973 compared with the current 71.

In calling for reforming "these long out-dated laws," Republican Pataki
called for expanding judicial discretion in sentencing and assignment to
treatment programs; decreasing sentences and eliminating Parole Board
discretion over some of them; and boosting penalties for drug crimes when a
gun is involved.

Democrat-led Assembly proposals want further expansion of such changes,
including making an offender eligible for parole after serving one-third of
the sentence. The Republican-dominated Senate has said it will not adopt
the Assembly bill, to which the New York State District Attorneys
Association is adamantly opposed. Prosecutors contend that the strong drug
laws have led to a reduction in crime overall and improved public safety in
ways not readily apparent.

Obviously, compromise is needed. Promisingly, it seems to be in the air.

In noting the drug laws' anniversary, Pataki said: "Our approach combines
long-term, structured treatment -- even for second time felony drug sellers
- -- with substantial sanctions for those who fail treatment. It requires a
defendant to prove that he or she has a history of drug dependency, and
committed the crime at least in substantial part because of that
dependency, before entering (a) court-approved program."

So-called "drug courts" already are showing success around the state,
including in Yonkers, Mount Vernon and Haverstraw, with others beginning in
Mount Kisco, the Town of Greenburgh and Putnam County.

With the confluence of factors coalescing this election year, the impasse
over achieving drug-law reform in New York state should finally be broken.