PATAKI SIGNS BILL SOFTENING DRUG LAWS

Gov. George E. Pataki signed a bill into law last night that will soften
the so-called Rockefeller drug laws, his office said.

The new law will allow about 540 inmates - those convicted of Class A-2
felonies - the chance to petition for resentencing and early release.

It is the second piece of reform to the drug laws that were passed in 1973
and that established mandatory sentences that in some cases were longer
than those for murder convictions. Last December, Governor Pataki signed a
bill allowing 446 inmates serving time for A-1 felonies to petition for a
reduction in their mandatory sentences.

The bill, one in a batch of about 100 that the governor signed about 7:30
p.m., would have gone into effect at midnight without Mr. Pataki's
signature unless he had vetoed it.

The governor, who is weighing a run for president, signed the bill "based
on its merits," a spokesman, Kevin Quinn, said.

While reformers hailed the new law last night, they said they would like to
see more done to dismantle the drug laws. "We took 2 steps forward on
Rockefeller reform last December, and we're taking another step forward
today, but we have another good 10 steps to go," said Ethan Nadelmann, the
executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit group focused
on changing national drug policy.