Reformed New York Drug Laws Take Effect

Revised drug laws that just took effect in New York may allow drug offenders convicted of low-level crimes to have their sentences reduced or may even be released from prison, the Associated Press reported Oct. 7.

The state will now allow eligible inmates to be resentenced and for judges to decide if incoming offenders should be sent to drug treatment or military-style boot camps instead of serving time in prison.

“Under the Rockefeller drug laws, we did not treat the people who were addicted. We locked them up,” said Gov. David Paterson. “Families were broken, money was wasted, and we continued to wrestle with a statewide drug problem.”

More than 1,000 inmates across the state have been identified as being eligible for resentencing.