These felonies involve minute drug amounts. Thousands of drug offenders who have not engaged in violent, serious or dangerous criminal conduct are sent to prison each year. The Lapp report chronicles the criminal history of forty representative cases of men and women arrested in 1996 for drug offenses. Sooner or later, many end up as second felony offenders sent to prison at great cost to themselves, their families, their communities and the state. Whether they are first time drug offenders or people with multiple convictions for drug offenses, whether they are convicted of possession or sale, most of the drug offenders packing New York's prisons were guilty of conduct involving minute drug quantities or of playing minor roles in the drug trade.
Thousands are substance abusers, and their criminal history is directly linked to their addiction.
We call for drug law reform that will enable courts to fashion proportionate, fair, and sensible sentences, including substance abuse treatment and other effective alternatives to incarceration.