The State : Tougher Drug Laws Sought

Worried that tough laws in other states are encouraging drug dealers to move their operations to California, Gov. George Deukmejian called for even stronger penalties to combat drugs. In a preview of his upcoming State of the State Address, Deukmejian proposed sharp increases in prison sentences for large-scale drug pushers and the death penalty for drug dealers who commit murder. “I want California to be first in the nation in many fields, but I don’t want our state to be the No. 1 center of illegal drug trafficking,” the governor said in his weekly radio broadcast. “We must act quickly to make our anti-drug laws the toughest in the nation.”