STUDY CASTS DOUBT ON LONG SENTENCES FOR DRUG DEALERS

Meting out harsher prison terms to drug dealers provides fewer
benefits per taxpayer dollar than old-fashioned law enforcement or
simply treating addicted offenders, according to a new study released
Monday.

The detailed analysis published by the Drug Policy Research Center of
the Rand Corporation, a policy analysis institution that has made its
reputation doing government studies, seems bound to supply fresh fuel
for the contentious national debate over federal and state laws that
require judges to impose automatic minimum sentences for dealing in
some illegal drugs.

Supporters say mandatory sentencing send a tough message and take
criminals out of circulation. Critics contend that the laws impose a
draconian punishment out of proportion to the offense, take discretion
away from judges, and in the process, lock up many more black and
Hispanic offenders for low-level trafficking than white offenders for
high-level trafficking.

The 183 page Rand study appears to be the first to examine the cost
effectiveness of mandatory minimum sentences. Addressing cocaine as
the nation's "most problematic" drug, the researchers crunched
hundreds of numbers, from cocaine's average street price to the cost
of a prison cell. They determined that spending an additional $1
million on longer sentences for convicted dealers would reduce the
nation's total consumption of cocaine estimated to be from 276 to 321
tons a year by less than 29 pounds a year.

The same $1 million spent on arresting, prosecuting and sentencing
more dealers to discretionary prison terms, as well as seizing their
assets, would trim annual cocaine consumption by nearly 60 pounds, or
twice as much, the study reported.

But spending $1 million more on treating heavy cocaine users would cut
consumption by as much as 220 pounds, it said. "Mandatory minimum
sentences are not justifiable on the basis of cost effectiveness at
reducing cocaine consumption or drug related crime," the researchers
concluded, assuming that lower consumption of cocaine leads to fewer
drug related crimes.

They attributed this mainly to the high cost of incarceration. Locking
up a convicted felon costs $20,000 to $30,000 a year. By comparison,
the researchers calculated, a mix of residential and outpatient
treatment would cost the government as little as $1,740 a year for a
heavy cocaine user. Residential treatment can, however, run from about
$8,000 to $16,000 a year.

"We don't say mandatory minimums have no effect," Jonathan Caulkins,
the principal researcher in the Rand study, explained in an interview.
"They do have some effect, but they turn out to be not very
cost-effective."

However, the researchers, who included C. Peter Rydell, William
Schwabe and James Chiesa, emphasized that their findings did not
support shifting all antidrug resources from enforcement to treatment.

The issue was raised anew two weeks ago when the U.S. Sentencing
Commission, an advisory body on prison sentences, recommended that
Congress reduce, but not eliminate, the 100 to1 disparity in sentences
involving crack, compared with sentences involving powder cocaine.
Federal law sets a five year minimum sentence for possession with the
intent to distribute less than one fifth of an ounce of crack cocaine,
compared with eight ounces of powder cocaine .

Crack is made by heating cocaine powder with baking soda and water. It
is more addictive than the powder form and has been more often
associated with violence.

Two years ago, the Clinton administration joined Congress in rejecting
a recommendation by the Sentencing Commission that the disparity in
sentencing between crimes involving powder and crack cocaine be
eliminated. Congress has shown no inclination to change the laws.

Many states have their own mandatory minimum sentences. In 1973, New
York, under Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, passed legislation dictating a
sentence of 15 years to life for anyone convicted of selling 2 ounces
of cocaine or possessing 4 ounces of cocaine. By the end of 1996,
8,760 drug offenders were locked up under the Rockefeller laws at a
cost of $260 million a year, according to the Correctional Association
of New York, which monitors prison conditions.

"Long sentences for serious crimes have intuitive appeal," the Rand
study said. "They respond to deeply held beliefs about punishment for
evil actions, and in many cases they ensure that, by removing a
criminal from the streets, further crimes that would have been
committed will not be."

But, the study continued, "long sentences are expensive and cocaine
control resources are limited. As we show, if reducing consumption or
violence is the goal, more can be achieved by spending additional
money arresting, prosecuting and sentencing dealers to standard prison
terms than by spending it sentencing (fewer) dealers to longer
mandatory terms."