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NY: A new tack on drug policy could save the state billions

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

A new tack on drug policy could save the state billions Posted by The Readers' Page November 30, 2008 5:00AM By Gabriel Sayegh While New York reels from the most severe budget crisis since the Great Depression, Gov. David Paterson and the Legislature are scrambling to close ever-expanding deficits. So let's stop spending over $500 million every year on ineffective, wasteful policies like the Rockefeller Drug Laws. These laws represent a misguided and ineffective regime for addressing drug use and addiction -- health issues, not criminal issues. Imagine if we incarcerated people for being addicted to cigarettes, or for having diabetes. Passed in 1973, the laws mandate harsh, mandatory-minimum prison terms for even low-level drug offenses; people convicted of first- and second-time drug offenses often receive eight to 20 years...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on December 02, 2008 (boomark / email).