Pubdate: Mon, 04 May 2009
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

PROPOSED DRUG LAWS DRAW FIRE

Mandatory Jail Time Won't Work: Ndp

(CNS) - Under Canada's proposed new drug laws, an 18-year-old who 
shares a joint with a 17-year-old friend could end up in jail.

Small-time addicts convicted of pushing drugs near schools, parks, 
malls or any other prospective youth hangouts would be automatically 
imprisoned for two years.

And growers caught selling even one plant to a friend would also be 
incarcerated.

The Harper government's bill to impose Canada's first mandatory 
minimum prison sentences for drug crimes - removing discretion for 
judges to sentence as they see fit - has come under intense scrutiny 
in public hearings, which began last week.

Several witnesses have warned the House of Commons justice committee 
the proposed legislation will fill jails with drug addicts rather 
than drug kingpins, who will continue to thrive while small-time 
dealers are knocked out of commission

The all-party committee probably will get an earful again today when 
it hears from another half-dozen opponents, including Ottawa drug 
policy analyst Eugene Oscapella.

"It's a wonderful gift to organized crime," said Oscapella, a lawyer 
who teaches at University of Ottawa.

"We're going to drive some of the smaller players out of the business 
and they'll be replaced by people who do not respond to law 
enforcement initiatives."

The Conservative government proposes to automatically jail dealers 
and growers at a time when several American states, most recently New 
York, have retreated from mandatory minimum sentences, saying they 
are a glaring symbol of the failed U.S. war on drugs.

"We're going in exactly the opposite direction," said New Democrat 
Libby Davies, MP for Vancouver East, whose party will vote against the bill.

The Bloc Quebecois also opposes the legislation, which was originally 
introduced in late 2007, but died last September when the federal 
election was called.

The bill would pass in the minority Parliament if the official 
opposition Liberals decide to support it - and MP Brian Murphy 
cautioned that "the jury is still out" for his party.

"The aim of the bill is laudable, we have to crack down on organized 
crime and the cash cow for it seems to be drugs," Murphy said.

The Liberals, at this stage, would probably push for amendments to 
narrow the bill's reach, rather than vote against it, he said.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who appeared at the justice committee 
to defend his bill, was unable to supply any evidence from other 
countries that mandatory minimum sentences have made any difference 
in reducing drug crime.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom