MINIMUM DRUG SENTENCES PROPOSED

Conservatives Say Crackdown Targets Grow-Ops and Other 'Serious Drug
Crime' In Neighbourhoods

OTTAWA - The Conservative government has introduced automatic minimum
jail terms of one to three years for serious drug crimes, as it
targets grow-ops, organized crime and drug dealers or producers who
exploit youths.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson introduced a bill to amend the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to bring in a range of mandatory
minimum penalties that would be jacked up if there were aggravating
factors - all in a bid to crack down on what he called a growing
problem of "serious drug crime" that is "infiltrating" Canadian neighbourhoods.

Nicholson denied the Conservative government wants to limit judicial
discretion or views judges as too lenient on drug offenders.

"Judges apply the laws that we have, but it's Parliament's job to set
those guidelines, so we are living up to our responsibility to set
those guidelines."

Among other things, the amendments provide:

A one-year mandatory sentence for dealing drugs like marijuana when
there is a link to organized crime, or when a gun or the threat of
violence is involved.

A two-year mandatory sentence for dealing hard drugs like cocaine,
heroin and methamphetamines to youths, or dealing near a school or
area frequented by kids.

A two-year mandatory sentence for running a grow-op of at least 500
marijuana plants.

A higher maximum penalty for cannabis production to 14 years from seven.

Tougher penalties for trafficking in so-called date-rape drugs like
GHB or flunitrazepam.

The bill would allow some offenders who qualify for drug treatment
courts to escape the automatic jail terms if they are able to
successfully complete a program of treatment under judicial supervision.

But Paul Welsch, director of Rideauwood Addiction and Family
Services, who applauded the emphasis on the use of the drug treatment
courts, said in an interview afterward that many drug offenders might
not qualify for the exemption. The specialty court program is
directed specifically at offenders whose crimes are non-violent or
administrative (failures to follow court orders) and whose behaviour
is driven by addiction - often people with mental health problems or
who are homeless.

Still, Welsch appeared with three Conservative ministers at the news
conference to say the Conservative legislation "provides the right
solution to the right problem."

Libby Davies, NDP spokesperson for drug reform policy, said the bill
could be very costly because it will lead to higher prison populations.

"I think it's all about their political optics, trying to please
their political base without ever examining what are effective
policies that actually work in terms of dealing with substance use in
our society."

Lawyer Frank Addario, head of the Criminal Lawyers' Association of
Ontario, said research done by the justice department has shown that
mandatory minimum penalties do not deter offenders more than
"tailored proportionate sentences."

In fact, he said, "they result in lower conviction rates because
judges are reluctant to convict somebody for a minor transgression of
the law if they know the penalty is that harsh."