STUDY: DRUG OFFENDERS DO LESS TIME

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

Researchers at Syracuse University said startling new statistics
suggest that federal authorities are failing to target the most
dangerous drug king pins and the most drug infested areas, focusing
instead on lower-level marijuana crimes.

As a result, judges may be meting out shorting sentences -- a result
of weaker cases or less serious offenses, the researchers said.

Whatever the explanation, the reduction of drug sentences appears
particularly severe in Southern California, according to the new
statistics, which are based on the federal government's computerized
data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Notorious as a gateway for drug importers, Souther California once
meted out the toughest drug sentences in the country, according to the
most recent statistics compiled by TRAC, The Transactional Records
Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. But the group's study
shows that penalties in the region have shrunk by more than half,
farm an average federal sentence of 18 years in 1992 to seven years in
1998.

Nationwide, federal drug sentence fell 22 percent over the same
period, oven as the number of drug prosecutions and convictions
reached record levels, the study found. Working on the assumption
that more-populated areas have more drug activity, the researches
ranked 90 federal court districts by the number of federal drug
referrals per capita.

TRAC researchers said the low rankings of Los Angeles and several
other urban areas was perplexing because those cites "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 sever drop
in drug sentences -- are worth closer scrutiny and could mark a
potentially significant trend with broad implications for
anti-narcotics enforcement.