Thirty five years after New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller enacted a series of harsh drug laws that still bear his name, activists have assembled an aggressive streetwise campaign to get the laws repealed, the New York Times reported Oct. 5.

Considered by many to be the most severe drug laws in the nation, the Rockefeller statutes require mandatory prison sentences of 8-20 years for selling two ounces or possessing eight ounces of drugs like heroin or cocaine.

The campaign has recruited supporters to walk the streets asking people to sign petitions in support of repealing the laws. Their most recent petition drives hit 20 neighborhoods across New York City, including Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Jamaica, Queens and the South Bronx (the areas most impacted by the laws). They gathered 5,000 signatures, campaign organizers said, which put them nearly halfway to their goal of getting 35,000 signatures by the end of the year. 

Activists working the streets of Harlem found that while most people agreed to sign the petitions, some refused because they felt that changing the laws would aid drug dealers.

The Correctional Association of New York created the "Drop the Rock" campaign in an effort to urge the state legislature to repeal the laws, the Albany Times Union reported Oct. 5.