The Rockefeller Drug Laws: 35 Years of Unjust, Biased Policy
Village Voice
3/07/2008
This article reviews the effect of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, enacted in 1973.
Among the toughest laws of their kind in the nation when they were passed 35 years ago, and even now after celebrated but humble reforms in 2004, the Rockefeller Drug Laws mandate severe prison sentences for anyone convicted of the possession and sale of relatively small amounts of narcotics, which included marijuana until 1979. Because the laws remove judicial discretion and mandate minimum sentences based on the amount of drug found on the person, and not his or her role in the transaction, advocates of repeal say that the Rockefeller Drug Laws brew a perfect social storm of ineffectiveness, racial basis, waste, and injustice.