WAR ON CRIME AND DRUGS MORE HOPEFUL THAN REALISTIC

During the election campaign, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that
on the matter of criminal justice the Conservatives are not listening
to "people who work in ivory towers" because "we believe they are wrong."

Now it seems odd to hear a prime minister proudly declare his
intention to ignore the best criminological research and the advice of
those who have spent their lives studying crime. And it would be
nothing short of a miracle for a political party to produce a rational
criminal justice policy when it ignores the research.

Alas, there will be no miracles in Harper's future. For despite all
his talk of protecting the safety and security of Canadians, there's
little evidence the Conservatives' justice policy will do so.

Take for example the Conservatives' approach to drugs and drug crime.
Unwillingly to admit that the drug war has been a failure, the
Conservatives have chosen not merely to continue that war, but to
implement a "surge," if you will.

Specifically, the Conservatives plan to introduce mandatory prison
sentences for trafficking in certain drugs, such as heroin and
cocaine. This sounds good, since few people would object to putting
drug dealers away.

But the research -- forgive me -- suggests that this will result in
the incarceration of many drug addicts. For while many people draw a
sharp distinction between dealers and users, the Vancouver Injection
Drug Users study found that 20 per cent of users surveyed admitted to
"low level" dealing.

And what's more, it is these street-level dealers, rather than the
drug kingpins, who are likely to get caught, since large-scale
traffickers are good at insulating themselves from law enforcement.
The law will therefore result in more addicts going to jail, and will
disproportionately affect the lowest functioning users.

The Conservatives have also talked frequently about the importance of
treatment, but they've done little on that front until recently. And
even with recent, welcome announcements of new funding for treatment,
two-thirds to three-quarters of federal anti-drug money is designated
for law enforcement.

The Conservatives have also made much of their intention to eliminate
conditional sentences (house arrest) for certain violent crimes. This
is a popular measure, but it isn't as good as it sounds.

After all, people serving conditional sentences can still go to work,
support themselves and their families and pay taxes, in contrast to
those in jail, who are supported by the state. And those serving
conditional sentences must serve their entire time, while those in
jail can be paroled after serving just one-third of their sentences,
or leave jail under statutory release after serving two-thirds.

The Conservatives would do away with statutory release, however, and
this is also a popular measure. Yet the reason for statutory release
is to ensure that offenders are reintroduced to society under the
supervision of a parole officer. If statutory release is eliminated,
then offenders who don't receive parole will be released at the end of
their sentences, with no one looking over, or after, them.

Conservative youth justice policy fares little better. The proposal
that received the most attention, and that lost Harper crucial support
in Quebec, would see youth convicted of serious offences like murder
or manslaughter receive automatic adult sentences.

Now, leaving aside the fact that youth accused of murder and
manslaughter make up only 0.1 per cent of all offenders, this proposal
is almost certainly unconstitutional as a similar provision,
introduced by the Liberals, was struck down by the Supreme Court of
Canada.

The Conservatives also plan to make general deterrence the primary
goal of youth sentencing, which will likely result in more custodial
sentences for youth, and could return us to the days when Canada was
the top jailer of youth in the Western world.

Further, the research -- there I go again -- suggest that
incarceration doesn't deter young offenders. To be sure, some youth do
need to be separated from society, but we shouldn't kid ourselves that
jailing some youth will discourage others from committing crime.

What may very well discourage them, at least from getting involved in
gang life, is the Youth Gang Prevention Fund. The Conservatives plan
to increase finding to this worthwhile initiative, though the funding
is a pittance compared to the money earmarked for the
tough-on-youth-crime measures.

Indeed, since Conservative justice policy revolves around putting more
adults and youth in jail -- and not just those who are dangerous --
the Conservative plan is likely to cost in the hundreds of millions,
if not billions, of dollars.

That could be money well spent, since the safety and security of
Canadians is priceless. But it is much too high a price to pay when
many of the proposed measures are worthless.