STUDY SAYS DRUG OFFENDERS SPENDING LESS TIME BEHIND BARS

WASHINGTON - Despite a massive expansion of the nation's drug war,
narcotics traffickers and users busted by federal law-enforcement agencies
are serving far less time in prison than in past years, according to
interviews and new data released yesterday.

Researchers at Syracuse University said startling new statistics suggest
that federal authorities are failing to target the most dangerous drug
kingpins and the most drug-infested areas, focusing instead on lower-level
marijuana crimes. As a result, judges may be meting out shorter sentences -
a result of weaker cases or less serious offenses, researchers said.

The new statistics are based on the federal government's computerized data
obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Nationwide, federal drug sentences declined 22 percent since 1992, even as
the number of drug prosecutions and convictions reached record levels,
according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). In
Washington state, federal drug sentences declined 13 percent over the same
period.

Working on the assumption that more-populated areas have more drug
activity, researchers ranked 90 federal court districts by the number of
federal drug referrals per capita. The most extensive data set, from the
U.S. Court system, found the decline began in 1992, the final year of the
Bush administration. A peak of 95.7 months occurred in 1991; from there,
the average sentence dropped to 74.6 months in 1999, TRAC found.

Justice Department data showed the average sentence declined from 86 months
in 1992 to 67 in 1998, and the median declined from 48 months in 1992 to 46
months in 1998, TRAC reported.

Sentencing Commission data showed the average dropped from 88.2 months in
1992 to 78 months in 1998, and the median from 60 months in 1991 to 56 in
1998, TRAC reported.

TRAC also found that, by 1998, marijuana accounted for one-third of federal
drug convictions. The other two-thirds were powder cocaine, 28 percent of
the total; crack cocaine, 17 percent; methamphetamine, 11 percent; heroin,
8 percent; and other drugs, 3 percent.

TRAC researchers said low rankings of Los Angeles and several other urban
areas was perplexing because those cities "have long been viewed as major
centers for the import, production and use of illegal drugs."

The study focused primarily on the DEA and Customs - the two leading
agencies in the federal anti-drug effort - and it raised questions about
the consistency and effectiveness with which both enforce drug laws.

Several experts in the law-enforcement and drug communities said they were
surprised by the findings. No one seemed certain how to explain them, but
all agreed that the statistics - particularly the severe drop in drug
sentences - are worth closer scrutiny and could mark a potentially
significant trend with broad implications for anti-narcotics enforcement.

TRAC, a nonprofit research organization, has been a thorn in the
government's side, suing repeatedly - and successfully - under the Freedom
of Information Act for access to data the government refused to divulge.

Justice Department spokesman John Russell said the department "believes
there are a number of reasons for the decline in length of drug sentences,"
including relaxation of some minimum-sentencing guidelines, a surge in plea
bargains by drug defendants and promises to cooperate in continuing
investigations, which shaves time off sentences.