Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jun 2012
Source: Kamloops Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Kamloops Daily News
Contact:  http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/679
Author: Mike Youds

KRUEGER'S ANSWER TO OVERCROWDED JAILS? LEGALIZING MARIJUANA

Legalizing marijuana would relieve overcrowding in B.C. prisons, MLA 
Kevin Krueger said Wednesday.

Speaking as an MLA, Krueger said he agrees with the opinions of four 
former B.C. attorneys-general, who have sided with a coalition of 
health and justice experts calling for legalization of cannabis.

"I think we should make it legal and tax it, and use the taxation to 
pay for the social consequences," Krueger said.

He was asked to respond to accusations by the Opposition NDP and 
BCGEU that the Liberal government has been hiding the impact of new 
federal laws on B.C.'s already swollen inmate population. 
Specifically, imposing mandatory minimum sentences for minor cannabis 
offences is expected to increase incarceration.

Krueger said Ottawa should be held accountable for its actions.

"I think that if the federal government makes changes so that more 
people will be penalized, they should provide the funding for it," he 
said. "The premier has said she believes the province should step up 
to the plate on this."

A perfect storm of overcrowding, tougher laws and the province's 
failure to hold Ottawa to account means the prison problem will only 
get worse over the next few years, said a union representative.

"They've released limited documentation on the questions we've put 
forward from our union on the impact of the omnibus crime bill and 
Bill C-25," said Dean Purdy, chairman of the union's corrections and 
sheriffs services component. "This is something that should have been 
released months ago from our standpoint."

The union plans to release a statement today on its meeting with 
WorkSafe B.C. on prison overcrowding. Prison conditions are blamed 
for a rash of recent prison violence in B.C., including assaults on 
corrections staff at KRCC.

B.C. prisons are running at an estimated 180 per cent of capacity and 
the inmate population continues to rise, Purdy said. Even with 
construction of a new prison in the Okanagan and expansion of the 
Surrey Pretrial Services Centre, capacity will fall far short of 
need. Those facilities will boost capacity to 2,900, less than the 
inmate population of 3,200.

New federal laws will boost that number to 3,600 by the time the 
projects are completed, and to 3,800 by 2019.

"So we're going to be up against it," Purdy said. "Completion of 
expansion projects is three to five years away."

The NDP is accusing the Liberal government of stalling on the issue 
by trying to hide the full impact of the federal omnibus legislation.

A briefing note obtained by the Opposition through a freedom of 
information request suggests expansion of B.C. prisons won't come 
close to accommodating the growth, never mind addressing current overcrowding.

Public safety critic Kathy Corrigan said the Liberals have allowed 
B.C. prisons to become more dangerous for workers and the government 
is ill-prepared for the now-inevitable increase in inmates.

"Public safety is on the line," Corrigan said. "The Liberals must 
tell the federal government to provide the funds to pay for the 
impacts associated with their own crime bill."

Grossly overcrowded prisons - including KRCC - are a ticking time 
bomb for society as a whole, said a Kamloops advocate for inmates.

Dawn Hrycun, regional CEO of the John Howard Society, said 
overcrowding is chronic in B.C. prisons. She predicts a blowback down the road.

When two or three people are crowded into a cell, the entire system 
is strained, along with 30 per cent or more of the inmate population 
affected by mental health issues. Access to services, including 
rehabilitative programs, is curtailed.

"It brings the anxiety levels up for everyone. The whole environment 
changes. It makes everybody's environment much more stressful."

The problem is not a new one, she added. Overcrowding is endemic to 
the system, only now it's going to get worse due to the federal 
political agenda.

"I think we need to be looking at other options, alternatives to 
incarceration," Hrycun said. "We're headed in exactly the opposite 
direction. We're following the U.S. model," while the U.S. has 
recognized it has one of the world's worst systems.

"All I can say is 10 to 15 years out, we're going to be wearing this 
problem," she said.

"It's interesting that the provincial government has not spoken up 
with a very loud voice with the federal government. I can't give you 
an answer as to why they provincial government isn't holding the 
federal government accountable."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom