END THE ROCKEFELLER LAWS

Driven in large measure by harsh drug laws, our prison population has
grown from 200,000 to two million over the past 30 years. Now, the
tide is turning and, by legislation or referendum, one state after
another is changing these laws. But not New York, where the hardline
Rockefeller laws remain the nation's most draconian.

The laws enjoy little public or political support. Just about all
interested parties -- legislators, advocates of various persuasions,
and all sectors of the criminal justice system -- favor change. Most
favor putting drug law offenders in treatment rather than prison. But
there is widespread disagreement about how to go about this. How far
should sentences be reduced? What should be done about offenders now
in prison? Who (judges or prosecutors) should have the last word about
where a defendant goes?

At Phoenix House, we have been treating drug-abusing offenders (in
prison and out) for nearly 40 years. We were among the first to show
that treatment, not incarceration, is a more effective, less expensive
way to curb drug use and drug-related crime. We believe drug law
reform offers a great opportunity to bring into appropriate treatment
the most troubled and troublesome of New York's drug abusers. Because
we fear this benefit will be lost if reform does not provide adequate
opportunity, incentives and support for the treatment alternative, we
offer these recommendations to legislators now considering how best to
change the laws:

. Reform should ensure the treatment of as many nonviolent offenders
as possible.

. Sentences for drug offenses should be reduced, but not to the point
that they no longer provide a meaningful incentive for defendants to
accept long-term residential treatment.

. In-prison treatment should be mandated for offenders with a history
of drug abuse who are not appropriate candidates for community-based
treatment -- or are unwilling to accept it.

. Although other, less restrictive treatment options may occasionally
be appropriate, mandated treatment for offenders should involve no
less than 12 months of residential treatment, followed by 6 months of
outpatient aftercare.

. Penalties for quitting treatment or failing to comply with a
treatment regimen should be imposed swiftly and automatically.

. Adequate levels of community-based treatment must be available
statewide, and providing treatment to drug law offenders should create
no additional costs for local government.

There is little doubt that the Rockefeller laws are ineffective.
There is no question that they are unfair. To acknowledge their flaws
is not to sanction drug use. Addicts do not, because of their
addiction, belong in prison.

Gen. McCaffrey, former director of the White House Office of National
Drug Control Policy, is a director of Phoenix House, of which Dr.
Rosenthal is president and founder.