GET TOUGH ON METH, QUENNELL URGES OTTAWA

Saskatchewan wants the federal government to take a harder line on crystal
meth.

Justice Minister Frank Quennell said Thursday the provincial government has
for some time been calling on the federal government to make changes to the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that would include moving crystal meth
from its current status as a Schedule 3 drug.

Making it a Schedule 1 or 2 drug would allow a maximum sentence of life in
prison for possession and trafficking while Schedule 3 drugs only allow a
10-year maximum sentence.

"I wouldn't expect there would necessarily be the maximum sentence imposed
very often but the maximum sentence controls the sentences that are given
in proportion to the offence. I believe crystal meth deserves to be treated
as seriously as other drugs on other schedules," Quennell told reporters at
the provincial legislature Thursday.

The severity of sentencing for possession and trafficking became an issue
in a Regina court case when the federal Crown prosecutor asked for a jail
term for a Regina man that would reflect the danger of the highly-addictive
drug.

The case wrapped up Thursday with the judge declining to address the issue
and staying within existing sentencing guidelines.

The Opposition Saskatchewan Party, critical of the province for the way it
addresses the crystal meth issue, has also said the federal government
needs to change its laws on meth.

Quennell said he was sending a letter to federal Justice Minister Irwin
Cotler today and he expects the issue to be discussed at a meeting of the
federal and provincial justice ministers at the end of the month. "Crystal
meth is a growing problem in Western Canada. I recently met with my
counterparts from the other western provinces, we discussed the issue, we
have a common concern about this issue, we're going to be working together
to encourage the federal government to make changes," he said.

Quennell said the province also wants changes to other federal regulations
to better track the sale of large amounts of the ingredients used to make
crystal meth.

"And we need to have a federal system, because it's federal legislation, so
that people will become aware through business that if there are purchases
of significant amounts of these precursors that they have an office to
report it to and there's a centralized system of keeping track of these
sales," he said.