TORIES' TOUGH DRUG PROPOSALS DRAW SCORN

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 other prospective youth hangouts, would be
automatically imprisoned for two years.

And 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 that 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 the 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," he said.

The Conservative government proposes to automatically jail dealers and
growers at a time when several American states, most recently New
York, 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 that "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.

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.

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