ROCKEFELLER LAWS DECRIED BY EX-DRUG CZAR

Albany-- Gen. Barry McCaffrey Endorses Assembly's Reform Plan

Former top White House drug advisor Gen. Barry McCaffrey again denounced
New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws Tuesday and endorsed a Democratic
Assembly majority plan that would allow low-level repeat drug offenders
to forgo long prison sentences in favor of addiction treatment.

It was the second time in three years that McCaffrey traveled to Albany
to declare the 28-year-old laws a failure at curbing drug use and sale
or drug-related crime. On Tuesday, he called them "a relic ... passed
during a time of enormous fear, anxiety and lack of understanding of the
issue.''

"It is a total waste of time to bust a chronic addict 100 times a year
or more, lock them up for 24 hours to three days and release them
without engaging them in effective drug treatment,'' McCaffrey said. "It
hasn't worked. And now is the time for rational change.''

Drug reform advocates have long called for reform -- if not full repeal
- -- of the strict laws, which require a mandatory minimum sentence of 15
years to life for those convicted of possessing four ounces or selling
two ounces of an illegal narcotic, even if they have no prior record or
history of violence. Observers believe state leaders this year are
closer than ever to an agreement on reform.

McCaffrey, a retired four-star general who served as President Clinton's
"drug czar,'' is now working on a book about the global drug problem. He
was invited to Albany by Assembly Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee
Chairman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo.

McCaffrey called the Assembly majority's reform package "sensible.'' The
plan, still not yet in bill form, calls for giving judges the discretion
to divert nonviolent Class B, C, D, and E drug offenders away from
prison and into treatment. They would face a felony conviction if they
fail to complete the treatment program.

McCaffrey said he has not read Gov. George Pataki's drug reform bill,
but based on conversations with lawmakers and experts, he maintains the
governor's proposal isn't as effective as the Assembly's plan because it
does not include Class B felons among those eligible for treatment.

Pataki's bill also includes increased penalties for the sale and
possession of marijuana, which opponents say could result in the
incarceration of more drug offenders, not less.

But state Division of Criminal Justice Services spokeswoman Caroline
Quartararo called the governor's plan "balanced.''

"It emphasizes treatment instead of prison for low-level nonviolent
abusers and keeps drug dealers behind bars,'' she said. "B felonies are
more serious, you have to take that into account.''

Pataki's 2001-02 budget does not add money for drug treatment programs,
and providers say they are not prepared to handle the influx of drug law
reform would cause. The Assembly majority proposes spending an
additional $73 million on new and existing treatment programs. The
Republican Senate majority, which will likely approve Pataki's plan,
added $20 million in its budget resolution to expand prison and
community drug treatment programs.