Nation IN BRIEF, NATIONWIDE
Drug Sentencing Rules Called Faulty
From Times Staff and Wire Reports

Mandatory longterm prison sentences for lowerlevel drug
users and dealers are not effective and should be scrapped
in favor of a system that gives judges discretion to order offenders
to serve shorter terms and undergo treatment, the Rand Corp. said.
The indiscriminate use of such sentences is "the least costeffective
means of reducing drug consumption. . . ," it said.

Copyright Los Angeles Times