New York State has decided to finally grow up and amend the decades old and highly unsuccessful Rockefeller drug laws that were not only draconian, but also way uncool. Now can we start talking about full legalization of weed? |NYP|
The cruelly unusual Rockefeller Drug Laws represent some of the worst penal policies New York State has ever adopted. Signed in 1973 by the extravagantly wealthy governor at the time, Nelson A. Rockefeller, they “mandated minimum prison terms for the possession or sale of narcotics.” Well, the laws have basically been an utter failure since their inception. They never curbed drug use and basically put a disproportionate amount of minorities in jail. Thankfully, the New York State Assembly finally decided the archaic laws need to be reformed and will reinstate “judicial discretion to the sentencing process, striking a balance between punishment for violent and repeat drug convicts and rehabilitation alternatives for lower level and first-time offenders.”
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