FEDERAL DRUG-TRAFFICKING CHARGES UP

Study: Ashcroft says tough laws are making a difference in taking
serious criminals off streets.

WASHINGTON More than 30,000 people were charged with federal drug
offenses in 1999, more than double the number 15 years earlier, and
most of those convicted were drug traffickers, a Justice Department
study says.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said the report shows federal drug
laws are succeeding in catching the serious criminals and keeping
them behind bars longer.

One crime expert disputed that, saying only a fraction of traffickers
are being arrested.

The study released Sunday by the department's Bureau of Justice
Statistics found only 4 percent of drug criminals were convicted of
simple possession. Ninety-one percent were convicted of trafficking.

It also found drug offenders are serving longer sentences. The
average prison stay rose to 51/2 years in 1999 from 21/2 years in
1986.

The longer prison terms are the result of federal laws passed over
the past two decades that require mandatory minimum sentences for
drug crimes, researchers said.

"Tougher federal drug laws are making a real difference in clearing
major drug offenders from our nation's streets," Ashcroft said.

"Federal drug offenders are predominantly hard-core criminals with
prior arrest records who are convicted for drug trafficking, not
first-time, nonviolent offenders charged with drug possession."

The report showed that 30,099 defendants were charged with a federal
drug offense in 1999, the most recent year for which data was
available. In 1984, 11,854 were charged with drug crimes.

James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, said
while the jump reflects the government's increased drug-fighting
efforts, prosecutors are only getting the tip of the iceberg.

"We are devoting a tremendous amount of money and resources to this
relentless war on drugs, which is not winnable" he said.

Almost half of those charged with drug offenses in the period studied
were Hispanic, 28 percent were black and 25 percent were non-Hispanic
white.

John Scalia, the report's author, said the Hispanic count was high
because many cases involved drug smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico
border.

"A lot of cases prosecuted by U.S. attorneys involve importation,
especially of marijuana," Scalia said.

About one-fourth of defendants were not U.S. citizens.

Other findings in the report:

About half of defendants had a previous conviction and one-third were
under justice supervision when they were arrested.

More than 25,000 defendants were convicted. Almost half had no prior
convictions. Nearly one-third were involved with marijuana, 42
percent with powder or crack cocaine and 13 percent with
methamphetamine.

Most were subject to mandatory minimum prison sentences. But about 21
percent of convicted drug criminals received a reduced sentence under
a 1994 law exempting many first-time, nonviolent drug offenders from
mandatory sentences.