Pubdate: Fri, 12 Aug 2005
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2005 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: Allan Woods, CanWest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?241 (Methamphetamine - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

METH LAW A DOWNER, CRITICS SAY

OTTAWA -- The latest shot in Canada's war on drugs is a "throw-away
political gesture" that will do little to curb the spread of
methamphetamine across the country, policy experts, academics and
opposition politicians said Thursday.

Instead, critics believe the government's decision to increase maximum
penalties for producers, users and smugglers of the drug from 10 years

to life imprisonment appears designed to draw marginally tougher
sentences from a reluctant judicial system, and bring Canada's
handling of drug crimes into line with the expectations of the United
States government.

"They're doing the same old thing. They're saying we've got to do
something so let's toughen up the penalties," said Ottawa drug lawyer
Eugene Oscapella, of the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy.

"When you get right down to it this is politics. These are politicians
pretending to do something."

The decision, announced jointly by the Justice, Health and Public
Safety Departments, changes the Criminal Code to put methamphetamine
into the same class of drugs as cocaine and heroin.

"(This is) a kind of wakeup call that deals with something that not
only harms the user but the community of which the user is a part,"
said Justice Minister Irwin Cotler.

"It's a comprehensive strategy involving enhanced penalties with
regard to possession and trafficking or involving controls on
precursor chemicals with a view to really attacking the whole question
of production.

"We see this as a comprehensive strategy and an ongoing strategy to
address and redress a serious harm in our society."

In Banff, Alta., the move was applauded by premiers -- particularly in
Western Canada where abuse of the drug has been most prevalent.

"I think Canadians generally should be very pleased with this news,"
said Premier Lorne Calvert, adding that the tougher measures should
act as a deterrent.

"It's something that we as western premiers, when we gathered just
weeks ago, called for."

The move is also likely to please the U.S., which expressed concern in
its most recent annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report
that Canada could become a major source of methamphetamine and the
chemicals used to make it, just as this country's marijuana crops are
smuggled across the border.

"Apparently, one of (the U.S. government's) objectives, and this is
unbelievably offensive, is to alter and modify Canadian criminal
justice policy in relation to drugs," said Alan Young, a law professor
and marijuana advocate at Toronto's York University.

"Whether or not this is part-and-parcel of that exercise I have no
clue and we'll probably never know, but they've clearly stated this is
the direction they want Canada to go in."

He suggested Canada's approval of a U.S. request to begin extradition
hearings against Vancouver pot merchant Marc Emery, a close friend of
Young's who was arrested last month in Halifax, is another example of
attempts to appease the Americans.

Emery's shop was raided after a lengthy undercover operation in which
authorities allege he sold marijuana seeds at an annual profit of $3
million to customers, 75 per cent of whom were American. The
allegations also constitute an offence in Canada, but such breaches
have rarely been prosecuted.

Conservative justice critic Vic Toews said emulating the U.S.'s
approach to the war on drugs is a good start, but does not go far enough.

"I can't remember the last time anyone dealing in meth received 10
years, so what is the point of increasing it to life in prison?" he
asked.

"The real issue is if you want prison to be the punishment for
methamphetamine ... then you have to impose mandatory minimum
sentences. We have to be looking at at least two years."

The Justice Department does not have statistics on average sentencing
levels for drug convictions involving methamphetamine.

B.C. Solicitor John Les said he is "very pleased" with Thursday's
announcement, but also questioned how effective the move can be, given
the changes were to the maximum levels of sentencing, and not the minimum.

"I think the Canadian public ... (is) fed up with seeing people who
are engaged in serious crimes such as trafficking in crystal meth --
which I believe is an activity that is akin to being an accomplice to
murder -- (get light sentences)," said Les.

"I think people expect these things to be treated seriously and not in
terms of a slap on the wrist," Les stated.

Others agreed that increasing the maximum sentence is only the tip of
the iceberg.

"Appropriate sentences are really only part of the solution. We need
legislation with some teeth in it that will enable police to charge
people caught in possession of the precursor chemicals used to make
crystal meth," said Edmonton Police Service Acting Staff Sgt. Darcy
Strang, head of the Meth Project team.
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