PATAKI OFFICIAL BLASTS BILL'S DRUG CZAR

Gov. Pataki's top crime guru squared off yesterday against President
Clinton's drug czar, accusing him of "an ignorance" of state law. The
attack came minutes before Barry McCaffrey, head of the nation's drug
policy unit, called for more treatment for addicts -- not more prison
time -- in a speech near Albany.

Katherine Lapp, the Republican governor's criminal justice director,
slammed the retired four-star Army general for suggesting New York's
tough drug laws are jamming prisons with nonviolent addicts. Lapp said
fewer than 10% of first-time felony drug offenders get prison time.

She walked out of the state-sponsored conference on drug-abuse
treatment before McCaffrey finished speaking.

The flareup comes less than a year after Mayor Giuliani called
McCaffrey "a disaster" for advocating that methadone programs be expanded.

In a speech distributed to reporters, McCaffrey said New York's
Rockefeller-era drug laws "have caused thousands of low-level and
first-time offenders to be incarcerated . . . for long sentences that
are disproportionate to their crimes."

The 26-year-old laws force judges to issue 15-year minimum sentences
for the sale of 2 ounces, or possession of 4 ounces, of narcotics.

But with Lapp boycotting the speech, McCaffrey ditched his prepared
remarks and backed away from commenting directly on the state's drug
laws. He also went out of his way to credit Pataki -- who McCaffrey
said was unable to meet with him yesterday -- for "advancing the debate."

Pataki has called for minor changes to the drug laws in exchange for
an end to parole for all felons. Pataki's plan would allow appeals
judges to shave five years off some drug sentences.

In comments to reporters, McCaffrey declined to discuss Pataki's
proposal, saying he had not studied various reform plans.