PATAKI PROPOSES DRUG LAW REFORMS

ALBANY, N.Y. - Governor George Pataki used his seventh annual State
of the State address yesterday to urge legislation to dramatically
reform the state's tough Rockefeller drug laws.

The laws, enacted in the 1970s during the administration of the late
Governor Nelson Rockefeller, are among the harshest in the nation and
can require life terms for even the possession of relatively small
amounts of narcotics.

"However well-intentioned, key aspects of those laws are out of step
with both the times and the complexities of drug addiction," the
Republican governor said in remarks prepared for delivery yesterday
afternoon.

Nonetheless, Pataki offered no details of what his proposal would
include. He said it would be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Pataki's pledge came even as advocates for an overhaul of the drug laws
planned to demonstrate outside the state Capitol. There are more than
21,000 inmates in New York's state prisons serving time for drug-
related convictions.

Until 1999, Pataki had been tight-lipped about his feelings concerning
the Rockefeller-era laws, which have been criticized by many including
the White House's drug czar, Barry McCaffrey.

That year, Pataki proposed some minor changes that would have affected
an estimated 250 inmates. His proposal died in the legislature; one
Democratic leader said it was "not real reform."

The drug laws have significantly contributed to the surge in prison
population in New York. In 1973, there 14,700 inmates prisons; in 1999,
there were more than 70,000 inmates in 70 prisons. The overwhelming
majority of those jailed on drug crimes are black or Hispanic.

In his speech, the governor also was calling for a complete overhaul of
the formulas for distributing about $10 billion in state aid to public
schools. And referring to the close 2000 presidential election, he said
the state's voting system should be studied "to guarantee that every
citizen's right to vote is respected."