Legislation to soften New York's strict drug laws is gaining momentum in Albany. The State Assembly is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a bill that would give judges more leeway to sentence nonviolent offenders to parole and addiction treatment, instead of prison. Queens Assemblyman Jeff Aubry, one of the authors of the bill, says too many minor players have been hurt by the current mandatory minimum sentencing requirements.

"We have a history of individuals who you know may have taken some money to take this case from this place to that place ending up with these huge sentences when their role in the transaction was so minor.

Law enforcement officials are less convinced that the law needs to change, saying that more judicial discretion may put the wrong people back on the street.