Pubdate: Thu, 13 Jun 2002
Source: New York Times (NY)
Section: Editorial/Op-Ed
Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?140 (Rockefeller Drug Laws)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)

TIME TO MOVE ON DRUG LAW REFORM

With New York State's legislative session scheduled to end next Thursday, 
and election-year politics in the air, the Democrat-led Assembly and Gov. 
George Pataki unveiled separate proposals last week to break the partisan 
gridlock that has doomed previous efforts at reforming the notoriously 
harsh Rockefeller-era drug laws. The state is now close to achieving a 
decent compromise bill. Neither side should let politics-as-usual stand in 
the way.

Yesterday the Republican-controlled State Senate passed a plan by the 
governor that, while far too timid, is an improvement over the ideas Mr. 
Pataki has floated in the past. The Assembly, meanwhile, has approved a 
bill that is more expansive but still defers to the governor's wishes on a 
number of points. The seeds now exist for a compromise that would 
significantly expand the use of drug treatment programs as an alternative 
to incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders. It would also mark a 
retreat from the tragic 30-year-old policy of imposing egregiously long 
prison terms for possessing or selling relatively small amounts of drugs. 
But the governor and the Assembly need to move quickly, or the moment will 
be lost.

Mr. Pataki's new bill would allow more addicted low-level defendants to 
undergo drug treatment in lieu of serving lengthy prison terms and grant 
judges limited leeway to overrule a prosecutor's refusal to allow a 
defendant to enter a drug treatment program. Mr. Pataki has also backed off 
from his insistence last year on linking reform to tougher penalties for 
marijuana possession, a non-starter for Assembly Democrats.

Real disagreements remain, not least over Mr. Pataki's unduly narrow 
definition of the pool of defendants eligible for diversion from prison, 
the scope of retroactivity and his clunky system for allowing judicial 
overrides when district attorneys deny certain defendants the drug 
treatment option. Bridging such differences now presents an urgent test of 
leadership for Albany's entire cast of would-be drug law reformers - but 
especially for Governor Pataki, who stands to gain the most if reform succeeds.
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