Pubdate: Thu, 05 Mar 2009
Source: AlterNet (US Web)
Copyright: 2009 Independent Media Institute
Website: http://www.alternet.org/
Authors: Anthony Papa, and Gabriel Sayegh

ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS ARE A CRIME

Drug addiction shouldn't be a crime -- the real crime would be if 
reform of New York's draconian drug laws were stymied yet again

The draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws represent a misguided and 
ineffective regime for addressing drug use and addiction -- health 
issues, not criminal issues. With legislation passed this week by the 
Assembly, New York may be ready to shift towards a more reasonable -- 
and affordable -- approach guided by public health and safety. 
Enacted in 1973, the Rockefeller Drug Laws mandate extremely harsh 
prison terms for the possession or sale of relatively small amounts 
of drugs. Supposedly intended to target major dealers, most of the 
people incarcerated under these laws are convicted of low-level, 
nonviolent offenses, and many of them have no prior criminal record. 
Approximately 12,000 people are locked up for drug offenses in New 
York State prisons, representing nearly 21 percent of the prison population.

Over 4,000 people are serving long prison terms for simple possession 
alone. Nearly 90 percent of the people incarcerated are black or 
Latino, though whites use and sell illegal drugs at equal or higher rates.

And as New York reels from the most severe economic crisis since the 
Great Depression, Gov. David Paterson and the Legislature are 
scrambling to close ever-expanding deficits. It costs New Yorkers 
$45,000 a year to keep someone locked up, while treatment costs a 
fraction of that.

Does it make sense to spend over $500 million every year on laws we 
know don't work? These laws did not stop the crack epidemic of the 
1980s. They are completely incapable of stemming the accidental drug 
overdose epidemic hitting New York City and Long Island today. And 
they have turned the Department of Corrections into the state's 
largest, most costly and ineffective treatment provider. The 
Assembly's bill, A.6085, would finally reform the failed Rockefeller 
Drug Laws. Sponsored by Corrections Committee Chairman -- and drug 
treatment counselor -- Jeffrion Aubry (D-Queens), Speaker Sheldon 
Silver and a host of others, the bill contains the four key elements 
that constitute meaningful, real reform: restoration of judicial 
discretion in drug cases, so judges can place appropriate people in 
treatment; the expansion of alternative-to-incarceration programs and 
community-based drug treatment throughout the state; fair sentencing 
reform; and retroactive sentencing relief for eligible people serving 
unjust sentences under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The Assembly's 
proposal would not allow people who commit violent to be resentenced.

Arguably, the Assembly could have done even more, such as including 
full repeal of the second felony offender law. Even so, A.6085 
represents a significant step forward in developing a more rational 
and effective approach to drug use and addiction in our state. The 
modest reforms of 2004 and 2005 continue to deny people serving under 
the more punitive sentences to apply for shorter terms, and do not 
increase the power of judges to place addicts into treatment 
programs. After 2004, more people went to prison under Rockefeller 
Drug Laws than in previous years.

The need for reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws is no longer in 
debate. The Governor, the Assembly and Senate, and the Sentencing 
Reform Commission, which included prosecutors, have all called for 
reforms to the laws. The question is what kind of reforms will we see 
in New York? The Assembly has answered by proposing meaningful, real 
reform and advancing a public health and safety approach to drug use 
and addiction. This is the direction we need to go. Drug addiction 
shouldn't be a crime -- the real crime would be if reform were 
stymied yet again.

Anthony Papa, author of 15 To Life: How I Painted My Way To Freedom, 
is a communications specialist for the Drug Policy Alliance.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart