Pubdate: Thu, 21 May 2009
Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009, BC Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/948
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

'TOUGH' DRUG BILL POLITICIZED

After 35 years of experience with mandatory minimum sentences for 
drug crimes, Americans are beginning to abandon this discredited approach.

Yet Stephen Harper's Conservative government now wants to saddle 
Canadians with these expensive and ineffective laws.

Now before a Commons committee, Bill C-15 would impose a two-year 
mandatory minimum for dealing drugs like cocaine and methamphetamines 
in places where young people congregate. It would also impose a 
six-month jail sentence for growing even a single marijuana plant for 
the purpose of trafficking.

These minimum sentences may sound reasonable to most Canadians. 
Indeed, federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson told the Commons 
committee last month that the bill targets "serious drug traffickers, 
the people who are basically out to destroy our society."

But the committee also heard ample evidence that the mandatory 
minimums would fill our prisons with petty drug felons, creating an 
even greater backlog in our overwhelmed court system.

When questioned, Nicholson refused to provide two vital pieces of 
information: What evidence is there that this law will reduce crime? 
How much will it cost?

Of course, in a minority Parliament, the opposition parties could 
kill this initiative. But while the New Democrats and the Bloc 
Quebecois have voiced strong opposition to Bill C-15, the Liberals 
have indicated they will support it.

Why? Not because they think it is sound policy; they acknowledge in 
private that it is not.

Rather, the Liberals do not want to give the Conservatives an opening 
to accuse them of being "soft" on crime. This is craven politics at its worst.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom