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  3. The War on Drugs In the late 1960s and early 1970s, New York legislators faced a drug problem they feared was growing out of

The War on Drugs In the late 1960s and early 1970s, New York legislators faced a drug problem they feared was growing out of

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问题                         The War on Drugs
    In the late 1960s and early 1970s, New York legislators faced a drug problem they feared was growing out of control. Federal statistics showed as many as 559,000 users nationwide and state police saw a 31 percent increase in drug arrests by 1972. In response Gov. Nelson Rockefeller created the Narcotic Addiction and Control Commission in 1967, aimed at helping addicts get clean. After the program proved too costly and ineffective, New York launched the Methadone (美沙 酮) Maintenance Program, which similarly caused little reduction in drug use. But by 1973, calls for stricter penalties had grown too loud to ignore, prompting Albany to pass legislation that created required minimum sentences of 15 years to life for possession of four ounces of narcotics—about the same as a sentence for second-degree murder. The provisions became known as the Rockefeller Drug Laws—a milestone in America’s war on drugs and the subject of one of the most abrasive (粗鲁的) legal tug-of-wars in the nation. The laws almost immediately led to an increase in drug convictions, but no measurable decrease in overall crime. Meanwhile, critics argued that they made what was primarily a public health problem criminal, threw nonviolent criminals into jail who were better off in treatment, caused a jump in recidivism (惯犯) rates, and prevented judges from using discretion (酌情处理权) in sentencing. In January, during his State of the State address, New York Gov. David Pater-son told his audience: " I can’t think of a criminal justice strategy that has been more unsuccessful than the Rockefeller Drug Laws."
    The effect of the new sentencing guidelines has been dramatic. Drug offenders as a percentage of New York’s prison population surged from 11% in 1973 to a peak of 35% in 1994, according to the state’s Corrections Deportment. The surge was mostly a result of convictions for "nonviolent, low-level drug possession and drug sales", Paterson told Time, " people who were addicted and were selling to try to maintain their habits." According to Paterson, just 16% had a history of violence. In 1979, the laws were amended, reducing penalties for marijuana (大麻) possession. But despite the ongoing criticism in New York, other states began to pass laws to deal with their own drug problems.
    By the mid-1980s, the war on drugs was in full swing, as the epidemic threatened to overwhelm American cities’ criminal justice systems. Drug crimes had become increasingly violent, prompting calls for even stricter required minimum sentencing laws. In 1986, the Reagan Administration passed a law requiring federal judges to give fixed sentences to drug offenders based on variables including the amount seized and the presence of firearms.
What did Paterson think of drug criminals?
选项 A、They were mostly low level drug possessors.
B、Many of them had a history of violence.
C、They were selling drug to maintain life.
D、They deserved the penalties they had received.
答案A
解析 事实细节题。由题干中的Paterson thought of drug criminals定位到第二段。第二段第三句说，帕特森认为吸毒人口占监狱人口的比例大幅上升主要是由于对“非暴力、低量持有和贩卖毒品”的判决，A与此相符。第四句说，根据帕特森的说法，只有16％的吸毒人口有暴力史，故排除B；第三句后半部分说：吸毒人口吸毒成瘾，他们贩毒是为了维持自己的习惯，这里的“习惯”指的是“吸食毒品的习惯”，C“贩毒是为了维持生计”与之不符，故排除；从本段的内容来看，帕特森一直在为吸毒者辩护，由此我们可以推断他认为《洛克菲勒毒品法》太过严厉了，故排除D。
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