DRUG LAWS AND THE HABITS OF POLITICS

MORE than seven years after Gov. George E. Pataki first said he wanted to
revise the Rockefeller-era drug laws, it is beginning to feel like one of
those all-or-nothing moments. Something has to happen. Or nothing will.

Albany being Albany, only three people - the governor and two legislative
leaders - know if they're ready to deal. Negotiators met Tuesday and say
another meeting is set (time and location a typical secret). Could be they
will find a compromise between proposals from the governor and the
Democratic Assembly.

Or not.

In an election year, when, more than usual, politics becomes substance, the
governor has wedged himself uncomfortably between two constituencies: his
conservative base and more liberal Hispanic voters.

Mr. Pataki has made a campaign issue, particularly among Hispanic voters,
of reforming the strict laws that can subject even nonviolent drug
offenders to long minimum mandatory sentences. Today, 19,000 people - most
of them black and Hispanic - are in the state's prisons for drug crimes.

Latino elected officials and community leaders want sweeping changes in the
laws. They argue that the governor's proposal doesn't go far enough and
accuse him of caving in to pressure from prosecutors, who have
authoritative control of defendants under the current laws and oppose broad
changes.

The criticism suggests Mr. Pataki's strategy is backfiring, maybe because
he raised expectations too high. That puts pressure on him to find a
solution - and puts pressures Albany's Democrats, led by Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver, to resist.

Last month, the Mothers of the Disappeared - a group of former offenders
and relatives of those still imprisoned - even rejected his plan to allow
inmates serving the longest sentences to apply for leniency, saying it
wouldn't help the vast majority of imprisoned drug offenders.

And then there's the dust-up over ads on Spanish-language television. The
governor's criminal justice director, Chauncey G. Parker, complained of
inaccuracies in ads critical of the governor's proposal and asked the
stations - Univision (Channel 41) and Telemundo (Channel 47) - to kill
them. They complied, citing legal advice, denying concern about offending
the governor or losing his political ads.

The incident infuriated some Hispanics, though the ads, sponsored by an
affiliate of the Drug Policy Alliance, a group trying to change the drug
laws, did include one acknowledged error and some exaggerating.

The governor, accused of hypocrisy by a Democratic opponent, the state
comptroller, H. Carl McCall, at first pleaded ignorance, saying he was "not
familiar with whatever ads he's talking about." That seemed unlikely,
though, since Gerson Borrero, editor in chief of El Diario/La Prensa, said
that he and the governor had a set-to about the matter at Yankee Stadium on
June 28, the day that his newspaper ran a front-page headline that read
"Pataki's Gag Order," in rough translation.

"The governor sees me, said 'You're really unfair, you're killing me!"' Mr.
Borrero recalled. "How can he disavow knowledge of this?"

Yesterday, Michael McKeon, the governor's communications director, said
that the governor "drew a blank on the question, that's all" and soon
recovered his memory.

THE governor argues that his proposal is a solid one and would release or
reduce the sentences of about 530 inmates - if the Assembly negotiated in
good faith.

Mr. Silver wants a wider reduction of sentences, expanded access to drug
treatment, and would give judges instead of prosecutors control over
sending defendants to drug programs. The governor's bill is tougher on
those drug offenders who use weapons or children in pursuit of their
crimes, and keeps most of the power over treatment programs with
prosecutors, relegating judges to the sidelines.

If the two sides cannot reach a compromise now, Mr. Pataki has proposed
reducing sentences of that top tier of drug felons now, and leaving
additional changes to the future. Mr. Silver said: "This gets him a sound
bite in an election, not a real solution. If we pass this, we will never
see a reform of the Rockefeller drug laws, because the sound bite will be
complete." Could be. Could also be that rejecting the Pataki plan would
give Mr. Silver and the Democrats a potent issue to use against the
governor: his failure to get the reform he promised.

As noted, in an election year (and a few others), politics truly can become
substance.