Repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws - The Time is Now...

[RedCeltic]

Enacted in 1973 when Nelson Rockefeller was governor, the Rockefeller Drug Laws require harsh prison terms for the possession or sale of relatively small amounts of drugs. The harshest provision of this statute mandates that a judge impose a prison term of no less than 15 years to life for anyone convicted of selling 2 ounces or possessing 4 ounces of a narcotic substance. The penalties apply without regard to the circumstances of the offense or the individual's character or background, making it irrelevant whether the person is a first-time or repeat offender. New York's drug laws are racist,ineffective, wasteful and unjust. It is long past time for their repeal.

http://www.droptherock.org/

[Mazdak]

Make the sentences longer and tougher. They are too weak. Repeal them? I think not.

[canikickit]

Mazdak: your friendly, neighbourhood, closet right-winger.

[RedCeltic]

The Rockefeller Drug Laws are a form of Institutionalized Racism, they fill prisons with non-violent, minor offenders and drain resources from other programs and services, such as drug treatment and education.

From 1988 to 1998 New York State increased it's spending on prisons by $761 Million meanwile decreasing spending on city and state wide universities of New York Apx:$615 million.

Yet right wingers like Mazdak want to funnel more tax dollars into the innefective prison system and away from social programs like free higher education and single payer healthcare.

Although studies such as the Health and Human Services National Household Survey show that the majority of people who use and sell drugs are white, African-Americans and Latinos comprise about 94% of the drug offenders in New York State prisons: African Americans, 51.2%; Latinos, 42.5%; whites, 5.4%.

[antieverything]

Mazdak, I know you are smarter than to actually think that longer sentences serve as a deterent. (as if the sentances could actually get longer anyway!)

I assume that you like the higher crime rates that "get tough" policies bring with them because the create new jobs in the form of a prison industry. You fit right in with the average American Politrick.

(Edited by antieverything at 3:19 am on Nov. 5, 2002)

[Tkinter1]

"Make the sentences longer and tougher. They are too weak. Repeal them? I think not."

We waste money on the war on drugs
We waste money on prosecuting the offenders
We fill our prisons needlesly with minor drug offenders
We still have ghettos
We still have poverty
haha but we dont even flinch(SOAD)
Longer and Tougher??? Why?

[antieverything]

Exactly.

Education, treatment, community service...not long entences.

In the words of Boots Riley of The Coup, "Power is the most effective anti-drug"...you end poverty, you end the drug problem.

[LeninCCCP]

Legalize it and tax it.

[SonofRage]

Quote: from LeninCCCP on 12:25 am on Nov. 9, 2002
Legalize it and tax it.

Exactly. Drug abuse is a health problem, not a criminal problem. It should be treated the same as cigarettes and alcohol.