TIME FOR ACTION

Albany Should Enact Drug Law Reforms

State lawmakers are talking about reforming the Rockefeller-era drug
laws.

The laws are among the harshest in the nation with lengthy mandatory
sentences for minor offences. Critics blame them for filling state
prisons with low-level drug offenders and particularly minorities.
Ninety-three percent of those imprisoned on drug charges are black or
Hispanic although studies show that whites are the majority of drug
users.

The laws restrict judicial discretion and the use of less expensive
alternatives to incarceration that could lead to rehabilitation and a
lower rate of recidivism.

There is widespread agreement on the need to revise the laws. Gov.
George E. Pataki, the leaders of both legislative chambers, Democrats
and Republicans say they want changes. They just can't find common
ground even though the differences on some issues are not
significant.

The Democrat-led Assembly, the New York Times reported, wants to set
the prison term for the most serious class of nonviolent drug offences
at 8 to 20 years. The Senate, controlled by Republicans, wants a
minimum 10-year sentence. Such offences are now punishable by up to
life in prison.

However, legislative negotiators could not agree last week on the obvious
compromise suggested by Sen. John A. DeFrancisco, a Syracuse Republican:
"Let's do 9 to 20."

Democrats are pushing to give judges more leeway in sentencing, such
as ordering drug treatment rather than prison.

Reforming the state's draconian drug laws have been on Albany's agenda
for several years now. The governor and Legislature should find room
for compromise and get it done this year rather than worsen the
problem by delaying reform.