GET TOUGH PLAN GETS SUPPORT

Serious time for drug crime.

That's the word coming from the federal Conservative government, which
has introduced amendments to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
to implement mandatory prison terms for serious drug offences.

The proposed legislation aims to deliver a mandatory sentence of one
year for dealing pot when weapons or organized crime is involved; two
years for dealing in cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine to
adolescents, near school or places young people frequent; and two
years for running a marijuana grow op consisting of more that 500 plants.

Jim King, executive director of the Surrey Crime Prevention Society,
is pleased. "I support the new initiatives going forward," he said.
Time, of course, will tell if the legislation will serve as a
deterrent, he added. "I believe it will."