DENOUNCE ALL DRUG TRAFFICKING, PERIOD

On Tuesday, Thomas Alexander Ward, 30, was sentenced to 10 months in
jail for trafficking in pure methadone.

We understand that the sentence has to be rendered according to
certain criteria, but we can't help wondering if 10 months is really
enough of a deterrent.

In a written judgment, provincial court judge Fred Ferguson ordered
that Ward be incarcerated for his involvement in possessing and
selling the potent drug.

Ward trafficked the methadone after his accomplice, Lesleigh Woods,
took advantage of her former status as a pharmacy employee to steal it
in the first place.

On Sept. 2, 2006, Ward was with Woods and Kristy Kenny when the theft
took place. All went back to Woods' place, where they promptly got
high on the drug themselves.

The three then went to Jared Young's place, where, Ward admits, he
sold some of the drug to Young.

Young survived the episode, as did the three involved in the theft,
but Young's friend, Chris McCully, who was also there at the time of
the sale of the drug, later died from an overdose.

"The Crown concedes the evidence does not establish Mr. Ward was
involved in the trafficking of the drug to the youth who died,
although, as detailed, the deceased was present at the time the
trafficking occurred between the defendant and Mr. Young," Ferguson
wrote in his judgment.

Fair enough. But the fact remains that the theft of the methadone in
the first place and its subsequent distribution led to the snuffing
out of the life of a young man.

In our opinion, if no specific individual can be held responsible for
the death, then those involved should be held accountable
collectively.

Ward pled guilty to three charges: possession of stolen methadone,
unlawful possession of methadone and trafficking in pure methadone.
However, he did so only after months of proceedings, during which the
defence and the Crown attempted to support their versions of events,
saying it was during the protracted legal wrangling that he realized
how serious his actions were.

That's a start, perhaps, though the fact that Ward nodded off while on
the witness stand because, as her explained later, he had decided to
make the best of his remaining freedom the night before isn't cause
for too much hope.

But one has to wonder if Woods, Kenny and Young also realize their
actions were equally as serious. After all, all any of them have
received so far by way of punishment is a slap on the hand in the form
of suspended sentences: 12-months for possession of the stolen
methadone and an additional 18 months for Woods for the actual theft
itself. Oh, yes, and probation all round - hardly conducive to
convincing someone of the serious of their actions.

Meanwhile, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Ouellete is schedulled to
give his verdict on Woods' trafficking charges next Wednesday.

During a sentence hearing two months ago regarding Ward's trafficking
conviction, defence lawyer Geri Mahoney cited seven other provinces
that do not impose imprisonment for this type of crime.

If that is accurate, then it really is time to take another look at
the way we punish drug offenders.

Ferguson put it well when he wrote, "Even in the world of illegal drug
consumption and sale there must be accountability. That accountability
can best be ensured by denunciation of that aspect of any drug
trafficking in which the seller deals a drug to others with reckless
abandon or without proper regard for potential dangerous
consequences."

Perhaps, even, it is now time to go to the next level and approve
sentences that denounce drug trafficking, period.