FED WAR ON DRUGS SLAMMED

Stiff Sentences a 'Failure' In U.S.

OTTAWA -- The Conservative government's plan to slap drug dealers and
marijuana grow operators with stiff sentences is a U.S.-style "war on
drugs" that won't solve Canada's problems, critics warn. Justice
Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day
yesterday tabled legislation that imposes mandatory jail terms for
those convicted of large-scale grow-ops or selling kids hard drugs
like cocaine. There are also tough sentences when the drug peddling is
linked to violence or organized crime.

"Those people who are in the business of exploiting other people
through organized crime and a host of other aggravating circumstances,
we want to get serious with those individuals," Nicholson said.

The legislation allows the Drug Treatment Court to suspend the
mandatory sentence if an addict offender takes part in a treatment
program.

But Liberal justice critic Marlene Jennings said extensive research in
the U.S. shows mandatory minimums with "escalators" on repeat offences
don't work as a deterrent. Many states have begun to repeal the rigid
sentencing regime, she said.

Jennings said the legislation removes the ability of judges and
prosecutors to exercise discretion and to factor in the gravity of the
crime.

NDP MP Libby Davies also denounced the bill.

"The overall direction of this bill is clearly moving to where the
U.S. has been with its drug policy, the so-called 'war on drugs,' that
has been a massive failure," she said. "U.S. prisons are filled with
people ... incarcerated ... from drug crimes."

Proposed amendments to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
include: One-year mandatory sentence for dealing drugs such as
marijuana when carried out for organized crime or when a weapon or
violence is involved; two-year mandatory sentence for dealing drugs to
youth; two-year mandatory sentence for large grow-ops; tougher
penalties for date-rape drugs.