Pubdate: Fri, 18 Mar 1999 Source: Wall Street Journal (NY) Copyright: 1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: http://www.wsj.com/ Author: CHARLES J. HYNES Mr. Dilulio correctly states that current laws put too many nonviolent drug offenders in prison, but overlooks the efforts prosecutors and judges have made to correct the problem. As Brooklyn district attomey, I use the stiff penalties of the Rockefeller drug laws to imprison those dealers who profit from the suffering of hard-core addicts and their families. But since prison is not the solution for nonviolent users who commit crimes to support their habits, I established the Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison (DTAP) program. DTAP gives nonviolent second-felony offenders the option of entering a residential treatment program instead of serving a comparable prison sentence. Successful completion of the program results in the charges being dropped; failure results in a prison sentence. Results have been noteworthy: nearly 60% of the more than 1,000 offenders accepted into the program have graduated or remained in treatment. DTAP graduates have saved more than $13 million in correction costs, health-care, public assistance and recidivism costs, combined with the tax revenues they generate. The Rockefeller drug laws' should be changed to permit judges, with the consent of the prosecutor, to place in residential rehabilitation programs those drug abusers found to be addicts by an independent professional, who have sold drugs primarily to support a habit and who have not been previously convicted of any violent crimes. CHARLES J. HYNES District Attorney Brooklyn, N.Y. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck