By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-865327.mp3
Albany, NY – In 1973, then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller persuaded lawmakers to pass tough mandatory sentencing laws, saying they were needed to fight a drug-related "reign of terror." In April, lawmakers led by Governor David Paterson revised the Rockefeller-era drug laws, successfully arguing that lower-level offenders would be better served by addiction treatment rather than prison. Last Wednesday hundreds of low-level drug offenders in New York prisons became eligible for shortened sentences or release under recent changes in state law. Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.
With the old laws repealed, it is anticipated that more people with drug problems are going to check into institutional and community-based treatment centers, creating a demand for help in those facilities. Patty Kilgore is the director of Clinical Services at The Saratoga Prevention Council - she says at this point things are in the "wait and see" mode.
The state projects a 22 percent increase in counseling positions for the period from 2006 to 2016. The average age of counselors is 53 - it is expected that a large number of openings will be created through retirement. Kilgore believes there will eventually be "waiting lists"for those in need of treatment-related programs and services.
New York Legal Aid Society attorney William Givney says his office has about 270 New York City cases among roughly 1,100 inmates identified by state officials as eligible for resentencing. The Drug Policy Alliance has been meeting with agencies and treatment providers to try to ensure released inmates get the addiction, mental health and other services they need to return to life outside prison. The changes that took effect last week increase penalties for drug kingpins and give judges more discretion to divert drug-addicted individuals convicted of non-violent drug crimes to treatment ... There are an estimated 2.5 million people in New York state who need addiction services. It's believed that veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan will need addiction services at a much higher rate than the general population.