PLAN FOR MINIMUM, MANDATORY DRUG SENTENCES DRAWS FIRE

'A Wonderful Gift To Organized Crime,' Ottawa Drug Policy Analyst Says

By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service

(CNS) - Under Canada's proposed new drug laws, an 18-year-old who
shares a joint with a 17-year-old friend could end up in jail.

Small-time addicts who are convicted of pushing drugs near schools,
parks, malls or any prospective youth hangouts would be automatically
imprisoned for two years.

Growers caught selling even one plant to a friend would also be incarcerated.

The Harper government's bill to impose Canada's first mandatory
minimum prison sentences for drug crimes -- removing discretion for
judges to sentence as they see fit -- has come under intense scrutiny
in public hearings, which began last week.

Several witnesses have warned the House of Commons justice committee
the proposed legislation will fill jails with drug addicts rather
than drug kingpins, who will continue to thrive while small-time
dealers are knocked out of commission

The all-party committee will likely get an earful again today when it
hears from another half dozen opponents, including Ottawa drug policy
analyst Eugene Oscapella.

"It's a wonderful gift to organized crime," said Oscapella, a lawyer
who teaches at University of Ottawa. "We're going to drive some of
the smaller players out of the business and they'll be replaced by
people who do not respond to law enforcement initiatives."

The Conservative government proposes to automatically jail dealers
and growers at a time when several U.S. states have retreated from
mandatory minimum sentences, saying they are a glaring symbol of the
failed U.S. war on drugs.

"We're going in exactly the opposite direction," said New Democrat
Libby Davies, MP for Vancouver East, whose party will vote against the bill.

The Bloc Quebecois also opposes the legislation, which was originally
introduced in late 2007, but died last September when the federal
election was called.

The bill would pass in the minority Parliament if the official
Opposition Liberals decide to support it, and MP Brian Murphy
cautioned "the jury is still out" for his party.

"The aim of the bill is laudable, we have to crack down on organized
crime and the cash cow for it seems to be drugs," said Murphy.

The Liberals, at this stage, would probably push for amendments to
narrow the bill's reach, rather than vote against it, he said.

The U.S. experience in the last 25 years has shown mandatory minimum
sentences have flooded jails, with a disproportionate effect on drug
addicts, the poor, the young, blacks and minorities.

The U.S. surpasses every country by far in incarceration rates and,
meanwhile, the drug business has flourished.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who appeared at the justice committee
to defend his bill, was unable to supply any evidence from other
countries that mandatory minimum sentences have made any difference
in reducing drug crime. Two studies prepared for the Justice
Department, one in 2002 and the other in 2005, say that mandatory
minimums do not work.

But Nicholson asserted that the proposed legislation is a smart
response to a public outcry to crack down on the growing "scourge" of drugs.

"I can tell you there is support for this bill from many ordinary
Canadians who are quite concerned about drug abuse," said Nicholson,
who called for expedited passage of the legislation.

The proposed legislation would impose one-year mandatory jail time
for marijuana dealing, when it is linked to organized crime or a
weapon is involved.

The sentence would be increased to two years for dealing drugs such
as cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine to young people, or pushing
drugs near a school or other places frequented by youths.

The bill would mean minimum six-month sentences for growing one to
200 marijuana plants to sell, and two years for big-time growers of
500 plants or more.