DRUG LAWS SERIES WAS ENLIGHTENING

Kudos to the Times Union for its timely, enlightening series on the
Rockefeller drug laws.

The articles by John Caher, Lara Jakes, Sylvia Wood and their
collaborators offered a carefully researched, balanced and cogent
presentation on the nature and effect of these laws and on the urgent
need both for their reform and for the greater utilization of
treatment alternatives.

The editors of the Times Union are to be commended for commissioning
this in-depth and comprehensible analysis of a complex public policy
issue. Hopefully, a more informed public will lend their voices to the
growing chorus of individuals and groups calling for the governor and
the Legislature to craft a less expensive, more humane and truly
effective drug policy for our Empire State.

HOWARD J. HUBBARD
Bishop of Albany