MPS SUPPORT TOUGHER LAWS FOR GROW-OPS

OTTAWA - Growing support among MPs of different political stripes for
tough mandatory minimum sentences to deter marijuana grow operations
usually run by organized gangs could lead to amendments to the
Liberals' marijuana bill, predicts Conservative justice critic Vic
Toews.

The cannabis bill before the Commons justice committee for study would
double the maximum punishment for grow ops with more than 50 plants to
14 years from seven years.

But Toews said the Conservatives will likely table amendments in the
committee in the coming weeks that would require judges to impose a
penalty of at least two years in prison.

Organized Crime and Grow-Ops

He said he believes stiffening the penalties could garner support from
Bloc Quebecois MPs because of the proven link between organized crime
and marijuana grow ops.

"We do need acceptable mandatory minimums that other parties can also
live with because that is key to the success of this," Toews said.

He noted the deaths of four RCMP officers last week on a farm near
Edmonton where marijuana was being cultivated has prompted many MPs to
rethink whether mandatory penalties could deter drug-related crimes.

Mandatory minimum penalties must be created infrequently because they
take away judges' discretion to tailor individual sentences
appropriately to fit the crime, said Bloc Quebecois justice critic
Richard Marceau. But both he and NDP House leader Libby Davies, her
party's spokesperson on marijuana, said they are open to hearing
arguments in favour of mandatory minimums, although Davies said she is
skeptical that they work.

Sticking to Position

Outside the Commons, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said he is open to
persuasion but for now he is sticking to his position that such
sentences are counterproductive because they lead to more plea
bargaining and are often treated as ceilings, rather than as floors,
by trial judges.

"I have looked at all the evidence and all the studies, and they have
not persuaded me that mandatory minimums are either effective or
necessary ... however well-intentioned the people who recommend them
may be, that they may achieve the very opposite of what they wish."

Liberal MP Dan McTeague, his party's strongest proponent of mandatory
minimum sentences for marijuana grow operations, said he believes
other Liberal MPs would vote in favour of amendments to hike the
bill's sentences.

"I think the public expects us to be able to nip this in the bud, and
remove judicial discretion which currently ignores the seven-year
maximum (sentence) in favour of trivial, and frankly dangerously
light, sentences," he argued.