AVOIDING A WASTED LIFE

To the Editor:

Reading "The Ruinous Drug Laws," by Bob Herbert (column, July 18), I
couldn't help but reflect upon my own experience as a drug abuser facing a
prison sentence 35 years ago. This was before the enactment of the
Rockefeller drug laws, and the New York State Supreme Court justice used
his discretion to mandate me into drug treatment.

Treatment worked for me, and I went on to obtain a degree in social work
and have, since then, helped thousands of people like me overcome their
addictions.

If the Rockefeller laws had been in effect back then, the court would have
had no choice but to send me to prison for five years, most likely
resulting in another wasted life. I made something of myself, and I can
only hope that others be given the same opportunity. It's time to modernize
our drug laws.

HOWARD JOSEPHER New York, July 18, 2002

The writer is executive director of Exponents, a not-for-profit
organization that helps people with drug problems and AIDS.