NYT: Albany Reaches Deal to Repeal '70s Drug Laws

[Captain Hilts]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/nyregion/26rockefeller.html?hp

Gov. David A. Paterson and New York legislative leaders have reached an agreement to dismantle much of what remains of the state’s strict 1970s-era drug laws, once among the toughest in the nation.

The deal would repeal many of the mandatory minimum prison sentences now in place for lower-level drug felons, giving judges the authority to send first-time nonviolent offenders to treatment instead of prison.

The plan would also expand drug treatment programs and widen the reach of drug courts at a cost of at least $50 million.