DRUG PRODUCER REGISTRY AN IDEA WORTH PURSUING

Anyone not living in a total media vacuum should be well aware of the
devastation the rampant production and use of Crystal Meth is causing
among our youth. Cheaply produced and highly-addictive, meth is
quickly becoming the number one drug problem in our country, our
province and, particularly our region.

Among the key frustrations faced by citizens and parents in dealing
with this scourge is a feeling of helplessness and futility. What can
the average person do to help combat such a widespread and insidious problem?

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) National Chemical Diversion
Coordinator, Corporal Brent Hill, recently provided a piece of that
puzzle. Speaking to the Perth County Task Force on Crystal Meth,
Corp. Hill said he would like to see a national registry created of
those found guilty of manufacturing illegal drugs, similar to that
used to keep tabs on sex offenders.

Such a registry would provide rapid access by police to current vital
information about convicted drug producers.

A person convicted of a designated drug offence could be required to
report to the appropriate registration centre to re-register annually
and every time they change their address or legal name. It is a
database that provides Canadian police services with important
information that improves their ability to investigate crimes of a
sexual nature. It could do the same for police in investigating major
drug offences.

Mr. Hill suggested the registry could allow the public to be made
aware, through the media, when a convicted producer moved to an area,
allowing the entire community to be on guard for suspicious activity.

Certainly there are issues which will require clarification. How does
a rehabilitated person convicted of drug production get their name
off the list? Would the registry differentiate between chemical drug
producers and small-scale marijuana growers, and should it?
Regardless, this is an idea that shouldn't be allowed to get mired in
the legislative system for years. It should be examined fully, post haste.

Citizens can help by letting their leaders know this is an idea they
would like to see pursued, even fast-tracked. Write your members of
parliament, both provincial and federal. Write to Prime Minister
Stephen Harper, the Solicitor General, Premier Dalton McGuinty, your
local municipal council. While creation of the registry would be a
federal decision, support for the idea voiced by other levels of
government could help speed the idea along.

The damage being wrought on our society by chemical drugs is
certainly comparable and perpetrated with the same vile disregard for
the rights of others as that done by sex offenders. These people are
in the same league when it comes to malevolence. We should put them
in the same boat when it comes to dealing with our justice system.