More changes in drug laws urged
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- February
- 27
Despite reforms enacted in 2004 and 2005, more people were sent to state prison in each of the last three years for non-violent drug offenses than in 2004, according to a report released today.
“Thousands of minor drug offenders are still being locked up at great expense to the public treasury and with little, if any, benefit to the larger society,’’ said Robert Gangi of the state Corrections Association, an advocacy group. “Our standard criticism of these laws–that they are wasteful, ineffective, unjust, and marked by racial bias–still applies.’’
According to the association’s figures, 6,148 people went to prison last year for non-violent drug offenses, compared to 6,039 in 2006 and 5,835 in 2005. The 2004 figures was 5,657.
Lawmakers changed the so-called Rockefeller drug laws (after their champion, former Gov. Nelson Rockefeller) in 2004 to ease sentences on non-violent offenders, but Gangi said they’re not working and need further revision.
He said freeing those who don’t need to be locked up could save the state $220 million a year. But opponents of further changes say letting more drug users go free could lead to more crime.
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on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 4:49 pm by Jay Gallagher.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
