JUSTICE MINISTER RESPONDS

Re: Harper's Misguided War On Pot, editorial, Nov. 23.

Drug producers and dealers who threaten the safety of our communities
must face tougher penalties. That is why the federal government has
proposed legislative reforms to introduce mandatory jail time for
serious drug offences, which is aimed at organized criminals and
others who prey on our youth. Drugs lead to more petty crime, more
gang violence and more risk to law enforcement officers, all of which
makes our communities less safe.

This government's message is clear: if you sell or produce drugs,
you'll pay with mandatory jail time.

Your editorial rightly points out that the production of one to 200
marijuana plants for the purpose of trafficking will result in a
minimum of six months of jail time to a maximum of 14 years. But the
editorial fails to take into account that the police and the judiciary
will use their discretion to determine whether the amount grown is for
the purpose of trafficking, and to set a sentence between six months
to 14 years.

Mandatory prison sentences for those who commit serious drug offences
send a clear message to potential offenders: grow-ops and drug labs
located in residential neighbourhoods and selling drugs to youth or
trafficking near schools will not be tolerated; you will be punished.

Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada,
Ottawa.