In 1992 Anthony Williams, now known as Amir Varick Amma, was sentenced to 25 years to life for a non-violent drug offense under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Amir was convicted of two felonies, the worst of which was the sale of 2 ounces of cocaine in Albany County. Amir was badly assaulted by the police when he refused to give up his accomplices. His refusal to cooperate guided Judge Keegan to sentence him to 12 and a half years to life on each charge, meaning he had to serve 25 years. Most judges would have incorporated the two charges together, resulting in a 12-and-a-half-year sentence. But Keegan was a "hang 'em high" judge, part of a tightly knit crew of upstate judges that dished out extraordinary sentences for drug offenders. [continues 441 words]
Change is in the offing for U.S. drug policy. More than a dozen states, including Maryland, have adopted medical marijuana laws. Attorney General Eric Holder, a decisive member of a sometimes indecisive administration, stated that federal laws against marijuana possession would not be enforced against persons immune under such state laws. Various jurisdictions in California and Colorado have begun to tax "medical marijuana," which provides an ever-growing exception to prohibitory legislation like that provided for "medicinal alcohol" during Prohibition. Referendum campaigns are under way in California and other states looking toward complete repeal of laws against marijuana possession. [continues 707 words]
Washington, D. C., finally seems to be getting the message that the war on drugs has failed. Following years of resistance if not outright hostility to reforming our nation's drug laws, Congress has passed two major changes to U. S. drug policy as part of an end-of-year omnibus spending package. First, the legislation repeals a decades-old policy that prohibited cities and states from using their share of federal HIV/AIDS prevention money to fund syringe-exchange programs, which have been shown to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and other infectious diseases without increasing drug use by allowing intravenous drug users to trade in their used syringes for sterile ones. [continues 370 words]
Here Are 10 Stories That Contributed to the Unprecedented Momentum to End America's Longest Running War. 2009 will go down as the beginning of the end of the United States drug war. I have worked at the Drug Policy Alliance promoting alternatives to the war on drugs for 10 years, and I can say without a doubt that there was more debate and movement toward sensible drug policies this year than in the last 9 years combined! Here are 10 stories that contributed to the unprecedented momentum to end America's longest running war. [continues 1473 words]
LAST Wednesday, changes to New York's notorious Rockefeller drug laws went into effect, allowing judges to shorten the prison terms of some nonviolent offenders. This measure will further reduce New York's prison population, which has already declined, in the past 10 years, from about 71,600 in 1999 to about 59,300 today. (The state's crime rate also dropped substantially during that time.) Nevertheless, mainly because of opposition from the correction officers' union and politicians from the upstate areas where most of our correctional facilities are, the state has been slow to close prisons. It was not until earlier this year that policymakers in Albany, confronted with fiscal crisis, mustered the will to shut three prison camps and seven prison annexes -- a total of about 2,250 prison beds -- in a move that is expected to save $52 million over the next two years. [continues 356 words]
Jail for Drug Offenses Is No Longer Mandatory in New York: Judges Can Send People Suffering From Addiction into a Range of Programs, Such As Treatment and Mental Health Services. This week, two essential components of Rockefeller Drug Law reform go into effect: restoration of judicial discretion and resentencing eligibility for some people currently incarcerated under the failed laws. The enactment of these hard-won reforms signals a major shift in New York's approach to drug abuse and dependency. [continues 630 words]
Wednesday marked the first day that certain felony drug offenders became eligible to apply for re-sentencing under reforms enacted in April to the state's drug laws. Those reforms give greater discretion to judges to sentence offenders to treatment programs in lieu of former mandatory minimum sentences, which had drawn the ire of many who argued for decades that the state's Rockefeller Drug Laws were excessive and harsh. Those sentenced to more than three years in prison for Class-B non-violent drug felonies under the previous language of the law are now eligible to apply for re-sentencing at the discretion of the court that originally handed down the sentence, typically a county court, if they are diagnosed as having a dependency problem. [continues 373 words]
Today is a historic day for New York, the day that the Rockefeller Drug Law reforms kicked in, setting in motion the release of 1,500 low-level nonviolent drug offenders. The new law also gives judicial discretion back to judges, who can now determine whether someone should get treatment for their addiction instead of a jail cell. I went to Brooklyn's Supreme Court and attended a public event to mark the milestone. The court room was full of activists, politicians and service providers that have been working for years to make this reform happen. [continues 399 words]
On Sep. 15, Cy Vance Jr. overwhelmingly beat Leslie Crocker Snyder in the race to be Manhattan's next district attorney. Since there is no Republican challenger, Vance will be voted into office in November. Snyder, who built her career as a ruthless prosecutor and judge, was beaten so bad that the Village Voice quoted her on election night saying that she was retiring from politics and going to China. In my view, Snyder lost because of her over-reliance on a misguided tough-on-crime approach, and because of her inability to balance her decisions with common sense and compassion. [continues 530 words]
Former Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder and I have a history. Most would say it's a parallel relationship. Crocker was a "hang em' high" judge who was infamous for handing out stiff drug sentences under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. I served a 15 to life sentence under these laws. Crocker wrote a book, 25 to Life ( http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/0446530204.asp ) , that documents her career as a tough prosecutor and judge. I wrote a book, 15 to Life ( http://www.15yearstolife.com/ ), a memoir about doing hard time under the harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws. [continues 601 words]
It's time to end America's longest war -- specifically, the drug war starting with marijuana. Because it is not about our safety but our control. Up to 1937 (see Drug Policy Alliance, www.drugpolicy.org marijuana tax act) marijuana was sold over the counter in drug stores as medicine without a prescription and was affordable to the poor. That made it competition to the big drug companies. John D. Rockefeller, the nation's first billionaire, 1839-1937 said "competition is a sin," which meant he wanted to stomp out the competition getting President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress to make it illegal because it took profit from the big drug companies he had interest in. [continues 253 words]
New York City remains the marijuana arrest capital of the world, according to an upcoming report by Queens College Professor Harry Levine. In 1993, there were only 900 arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana, while 40,000 people were arrested in 2008--mostly young Black and Latino men. Dr. Levine calls this a "marijuana arrest crusade." What's going on here? Dr. Levine's new research builds on a report he co-authored last year, and shows that beginning in the early 1990s, under then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the New York City Police Department dramatically increased arrests for possession of marijuana. Those arrests have continued--and in fact increased--under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, even though New York decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana decades ago. [continues 547 words]
In a season of deep deficits and alarming program cuts, why aren't states more seriously focused on reducing their swelling prison populations? The Vera Institute of Justice reports unusual progress - 22 states, pressed by recession, reluctantly starting cutbacks. But with a world-leading 2.3 billion people behind bars, the United States has a long, long ways to go. California's case is extreme - but illustrative. In the mid-1970s, it was jailing 20,000 offenders. Today the total is 168,000 inmates - an increase of 740 percent. In 1999, its prison system cost an already massive $4 billion to operate. [continues 740 words]
'We're On a Mission From God -- Like the Blues Brothers," Says Kingston Man Lobbying to Legalize Marijuana ALBANY -- Most lobbyists come to the Capitol with a briefcase, a position paper and a cellphone. At least one arrived with a pot plant, and for this she must answer. Abigail Storm-Eggink, 58, doesn't deny she's the owner of the two 18-inch plants cops took from her in separate incidents recently. One was confiscated by the Albany Police Department on June 30 as she carried it down Pearl Street on her way to the Capitol, where the Kingston woman and her 71-year-old husband, Dan Eggink, have been coming regularly for 14 months -- including the past 10 weeks straight, five days a week -- to protest pot laws. [continues 808 words]
I don't usually like to throw a bunch of numbers at readers because their eyes tend to glaze over and their attention wanders, but in this case the numbers are striking and important. So bear with me. . In 2005 (all numbers are from 2005), federal, state and local governments spent a total of $468 billion on substance abuse and addiction. That broke down thusly: federal, $238 billion; state, $136 billion; local, $94 billion. . Of every one of those dollars, 95.6 cents went to "shoveling up the wreckage of illness, crime, homelessness and other social ills," says Joseph A. Califano Jr., former U.S. secretary of health and current chairman of the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. [continues 647 words]
NEW YORK - Before committing the biggest mistake of his life, Anthony Papa lived with his wife and daughter of seven years and owned a small radio repair shop in New York. Never had trouble with the law and enjoy simple things. In 1984 his life took a turn when one of his fellow bowling team offered him win "easy money" handing an envelope of cocaine in the city of Mount Vernon in the state of New York, NY Bronx neighbor. In the beginning Papa dismissed the idea, but it had economic problems and finally accepted. [continues 997 words]
Heroin is back on Long Island, and it is killing people at a record pace. There were 46 heroin deaths last year in Nassau County and 50 in Suffolk. The related damage from the epidemic -- in overdoses, drug arrests, calls to addiction hotlines -- is also up drastically, officials in both counties report. What has not increased yet, thankfully, is the panic that drove political leaders during the 1970s heroin crisis to employ the self-defeating enforcement remedies that exemplified the failures of the war on drugs. The Rockefeller drug laws sent a generation of nonviolent offenders away for life, creating a lasting injustice while doing little to solve the problem on the ground. [continues 173 words]
If that old adage still holds true, then the nation may soon see a gradual backpedaling from the criminal justice policies that have led to wholesale incarceration in recent decades. For the most populous state in the union is on the verge of insolvency--partly because it didn't set aside a rainy-day fund during the boom years; partly because its voters recently rejected a series of initiatives that would have allowed a combination of tax increases, spending cuts and borrowing to help stabilize the state's finances during the downturn; partly because it has spent the past quarter-century funneling tens of billions of dollars into an out-of-control correctional system. Now, as California's politicians contemplate emergency cuts to deal with a $24 billion hole in the state budget, old certainties are crumbling. [continues 2735 words]
Recently, Gov. Paterson passed legislation that brought meaningful Rockefeller Drug Law reform to New York State. But it did not come easy. Opponents of the reforms fought tooth and nail and swore that bringing forth these changes would open the flood gates of hell. Thank goodness common sense prevailed. But now District Attorneys and Republican Senators, who were the main opponents of the reforms, have struck back. They are now seeking to mount a campaign to repeal the reforms. For a start they have chosen to hide behind the shield of public safety and promote their own political agenda of making those responsible for the reforms look soft on crime. But that shield gets worn out when their arguments do nothing more then undermine the recently passed reforms that advance a public health and safety approach to drug use and addiction. [continues 470 words]
Legalizing Marijuana May Be Politically Risky. But the Economic Benefits Are Becoming Difficult to Ignore For the past several years, I've been harboring a fantasy, a last political crusade for the baby-boom generation. We, who started on the path of righteousness, marching for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam, need to find an appropriately high-minded approach to life's exit ramp. In this case, I mean the high-minded part literally. And so, a deal: give us drugs, after a certain age -- say, 80 -- all drugs, any drugs we want. In return, we will give you our driver's licenses. (I mean, can you imagine how terrifying a nation of decrepit, solipsistic 90-year-old boomers behind the wheel would be?) We'll let you proceed with your lives -- much of which will be spent paying for our retirement, in any case -- without having to hear us complain about our every ache and reflux. We'll be too busy exploring altered states of consciousness. I even have a slogan for the campaign: "Tune in, turn on, drop dead." [continues 670 words]
