DRUG LAW REFORM ADVOCATES HOPEFUL

After almost three decades of employing the toughest drug laws in the
nation, New York's elected leaders may work toward changes that would
substantially ease the flow of people to state prisons.

Gov. George Pataki uttered 14 words that stirred the hopes of dozens of
groups trying to reform drug laws created in 1973 during fellow Republican
Nelson Rockefeller's reign.

''I will send you legislation that will dramatically reform New York's
Rockefeller drug laws,'' Pataki told the Legislature during his State of
the State address.

''However well-intentioned, key aspects of those laws are out of step with
both the times and the complexities of drug addiction,'' he added. ''I'm
hopeful that we can come together in a bipartisan way to enact meaningful
reform this year.''

The laws require judges to impose long sentences compared to time given for
similar drug offenses in other states.

In the Capitol and across the state, activists dissected every syllable of
the three lines of speech Pataki dedicated to the issue.

''They're about as vague as you can get, but I'd like to say we take some
hope from a few things that he said,'' said Deborah Small, director of the
Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation's public policy and community
outreach. She said Pataki's call for bipartisan support suggests that he
may not insist on elimination of parole, a ''deal stopper'' in the past.

Initial reaction from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, was
cool. However, several prominent members of his majority say privately they
will urge him to support substantial changes, and Silver recently stated he
will make reforms a priority this year.

But Assembly Democrats have said they will not agree to reforms in exchange
for parole elimination.

Silver insists that judges have discretion when sentencing drug offenders,
an ingredient called for by many of the reform activists.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, said he is ''supportive''
of reforms but needs specifics. He blamed Silver for not being ''ready to
really resolve any of the differences that we had and sit down in a serious
way.''

Small said she hopes Pataki will not link reforms to a broader, contentious
criminal justice package, and that any reforms provide alternatives to
sentencing, such as addiction treatment in lieu of prison time for
low-level offenders.

Advocates say that if Pataki seeks re-election in 2002, calling for reforms
would place him in good standing with a majority of New Yorkers. A Zogby
International poll last year showed substantial support for judicial
discretion on drug violation sentencings.

''The New York electorate is really ahead of the government on this
issue,'' Small said. ''He's trying to make his administration more in step
with the electorate of New York.''

Recently, Roman Catholic bishops called on the state's 7.3 million
Catholics to urge political leaders to move away from punishment and
incarceration, and reforming the drug laws was a key component of their
campaign. The Citizens Budget Commission, a public finance watchdog in
Manhattan, reported that the state could save $ 96 million, or 4 percent of
its corrections budget, by adjusting the drug laws and making other
sentencing reforms.

Jamie Fellner, associate counsel for Human Rights Watch, called Pataki's
comments ''apparent recognition for the need to drastically reform'' the laws.

Activists seeking reforms, including a group of mothers, demonstrated at
the Capitol Wednesday to call attention to their children's prison terms.