Pubdate: August 11, 1997 Source: The Globe and Mail Page: A1 Contact: Stiffer drug penalties urged AttorneyGeneral of B.C. seeks change Monday, August 11, 1997 By Robert Matas British Columbia Bureau In an attempt to break the illicit drug trade's grip on Vancouver, B.C. AttorneyGeneral Ujjal Dosanjh wants federal laws changed to require life imprisonment for a drug smuggler's first offence and a minimum 10year sentence for a first drugtrafficking offence. "Drug traffickers and smugglers are like murderers," Mr. Dosanjh said yesterday in an interview. "They wreak havoc on the population in places like British Columbia by making their supplies available. I think it's important to cut it off at the source. I have no pity for them." Mr. Dosanjh also wants tough restrictions on the possibility of parole. Those who export or import heroin, cocaine or marijuana should have a life sentence without parole for 25 years, he said. Those who sell the drug should be kept in prison for 10 years without any possibility of parole on their first offence, regardless of the quantity of drug involved. Upon their second conviction, they should receive 25 years without any chance of parole, Mr. Dosanjh added. Federal law currently does not stipulate a minimum sentence for a trafficking conviction. Drug smugglers face a minimum sevenyear term. No restrictions are set out involving parole for smuggling or trafficking convictions. Vancouver is awash in imported heroin and cocaine and locally grown marijuana, which is considered high quality and exported in large quantities to the United States. The port city confronts the brutal realities of the drug trade almost every day. More than 1,200 people have died of overdoses since 1993. The number of methadone addicts in a provincial program jumped to 2,500 last year, from 1,200 in the previous year. Meanwhile, residential breakins have increased 16 per cent in the past year, soaring past every other city in the country. Police attribute the increase directly to Vancouver's growing population of drug addicts. The rampant use of intravenous drugs has also led to a sudden jump in the incidence of infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Vancouver is believed to have the most aggressive outbreak of HIV in injectiondrug users in North America. Mr. Dosanjh said he is looking for a national strategy to deal with the drug trade. "I cannot do it alone." He intends to direct his deputy minister to raise his proposal for tougher sentencing informally at a national meeting next month of deputy attorneysgeneral and justice ministers. He expects to pursue the issue at the next ministers meeting, which has not yet been scheduled. However, his proposals might not be warmly recevied. Criminologist Neil Boyd of Simon Fraser University said yesterday that Mr. Dosanjh is out of step with the current debate over the issue. "I don't think he knows what he's talking about," Mr. Boyd said. Putting addicts in jail will not solve the problem, he said, questioning the wisdom of spending $50,000 to imprison someone who is spending $100 on drugs. Mr. Dosanjh also said he does not make a distinction between marijuana and hard drugs such as heroin. Former B.C. coroner Vince Cain, in a report to the provincial government on drug overdoses, has proposed that marijuana use be legalized. Although Mr. Dosanjh said he would be happy to support the consensus in the country, whatever it is, "I do not want to lead the debate on that issue. I do not support anything that is illegal and it is now illegal to grow or use marijuana." Dr. Cain submitted 63 recommendations to the government in 1994. He proposed that the province discuss with Ottawa the merits of mandatory life sentences without parole for people convicted of importing and trafficking in large quantities of drugs. Mr. Dosanjh went further, urging tougher sentencing unless the drugs were in small enough quantities that they could be considered for personal use. For instance, selling or smuggling one marijuana cigarette would be exempt. The former coroner also recommended that the province consider establishing a heroinmaintenance program for addicts and that federalprovincial talks be started on decriminalizing the use of substances to which people are addicted. Despite his tough talk, the AttorneyGeneral also expressed support for showing more understanding of drug addiction and dealing with addicts who can be rehabilitated. He supports government resources going into prevention and education. "But in the end of the day, [they] have to understand that, by using drugs, they are creating a problem, not just for themselves but for society," he said.