HARPER VOWS JAIL TIME FOR DRUG DEALERS, PRODUCERS

PM Mum on His Plans for Pot Growers

The federal government will introduce legislation this fall setting
out mandatory minimum jail sentences for people convicted of
"serious" drug crimes, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.

"Currently there are no minimum prison sentences for producing and
trafficking dangerous drugs like methamphetamines and cocaine,"
Harper told a news conference.

"But these are serious crimes; those who commit them should do serious time."

The $63.8-million national anti-drug strategy also promises more
resources for identifying and closing down marijuana-growing
operations, although Harper would not say whether marijuana growers
would face tougher sentences.

About $22 million of the funding would go toward enforcement, while
about $32 million would be directed to treatment and $10 million for
prevention in the form of an awareness campaign. The money would be
spent over two years.

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan called the announcement a good start.
Noting that enforcement has been well-funded for many years, he said
treatment and prevention will require "a much larger investment."

Sullivan has been lobbying the federal government for a
"disproportionate" share of the money earmarked for treatment
programs to come to B.C.

"Not only does Vancouver have a large and serious drug problem, but
the 2010 Olympic Games are coming and we will be on the world stage,"
Sullivan said in an interview.

In a letter to Health Minister Tony Clement dated Oct. 3, Sullivan
stressed, "The status quo is not an option."

Speaking in Winnipeg, Harper promised to be compassionate toward
people hooked on illegal drugs, while expressing skepticism about
Vancouver's controversial supervised-injection site.

In particular, the prime minister said he is concerned about rising
drug use among youth. He also noted that drug use takes an expensive
toll on the health care system and fuels crime.

Harper said the government's response will be two-pronged, focusing
on drug addicts on one hand and on drug producers and dealers on the other.

"Drugs are dangerous and destructive. If drugs do get hold of you,
there will be help to get you off them," Harper promised. "But if you
sell or produce drugs, you will pay with prison time."

"Our two-track approach will be tough on the dealers and producers of
drugs and compassionate for their victims."

Mark Townsend, of Vancouver, called the federal announcement
"depressing" and dismissed it as meant to court the tough-on-crime vote.

"Drug addiction is a devastating problem for the individuals and
their families and the communities that they live in too," said
Townsend, executive director for Insite, the city's supervised injection site.

"These problems are very complicated. But in Vancouver we have a lot
of consensus about harm reduction and Insite.

"[Former Vancouver mayor] Philip Owen came up with a comprehensive
way to deal with the city's addiction problem that included
prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement."

But Harper's emphasis on enforcement addresses the one thing that
wasn't missing, he said.

"This is a case of the prime minister going back in time," Townsend said.

B.C.'s share of the $32 million set aside for treatment over the next
two years amounts to about $1.6 million a year, enough to run 10
detox beds for a year, not including on-going treatment, he said.

With at least 4,000 IV drug users in Vancouver, Townsend said it
would take 50 to 100 years to treat the addicts we have today with
the money being offered.

The federal government this week extended the special exemption that
allows Insite to operate until June 30. The facility averages about
600 visits a day and has referred almost 2,000 people to some form of
addiction treatment or counselling over the past four years.

Harper admitted Thursday that he remains skeptical about Insite and
said even if it's effective, it's a "second-best strategy at best."

"If you remain a drug addict, I don't care how much harm you reduce,
you're going to have a short and miserable life," said Harper. He
pledged to continue to study the program and gather the facts on it,
but noted that his government's "tentative conclusion" is that
supervised injection sites, if allowed to operate, should operate in
concert with other programs that aim to treat addicts.

Critics of the government said the reprieve for the Vancouver site
was just designed to get the controversy over the harm-reduction
policy off the table in time for Harper's drug-strategy announcement.

Ann Livingston, program director for VANDU, the Vancouver Area
Network of Drug Users, called the announcement "electioneering" and
said tougher enforcement tends to make the drug trade even more
lucrative for organized criminals.

She was full of questions for Harper. "Who are we copying and why?"
she asked. "Where has this approach actually worked?"

Liberal and New Democratic Party critics said the government is
embracing a U.S.-style "war on drugs" that treats drug abuse as more
of a criminal matter than a health issue.

Liberal MP Keith Martin, a physician, and NDP MP Libby Davies both
said in interviews earlier this week that the government should focus
more on harm-reduction programs, such as supervised-injection sites
and needle exchanges.

Other details unveiled by Harper about the plan included funding for
the provinces and territories for drug abuse programs, modernizing
treatment services and making them more widely available, financial
support for youth intervention programs, more money for police
agencies to investigate and prosecute drug crimes, ramping up the
RCMP's drug unit programs, and increased funding for the Canada
Border Services Agency.

The Canadian Police Association, meanwhile, has expressed support for
the government's get-tough approach to drugs.

The organization has called for stronger legislation and a new system
of graduated consequences to prevent and deter drug use.

The group's president, Tony Cannavino, has called the government's
promise to crack down on illegal drug use and dealers "a cornerstone,
because a lot of violence is related to drugs."