JAIL IS NO CURE FOR DRUG ADDICTION

Re: Plan For Minimum, Mandatory Drug Sentences Draws Fire, May 3. The
federal government's proposed legislation -- which would give
mandatory prison sentences to low-level drug offenders -- will only
have one result: It will send more people to jail. Small-time drug
users will be thrown into already overcrowded provincial jails and
further clog up the overburdened court system.

If the government's goal is to address drug addiction, this is a poor
approach. Jail is expensive, ineffective at reducing recidivism and
can only increase the severity and health risks of drug use.

If the government really wants to address the "growing scourge of
drugs," the answer is to redefine addiction as a health, not
criminal, concern. Prison is no more effective a treatment for
addiction than it would be for diabetes or heart disease.

Paula Osmok, executive director, John Howard Society of Ontario, Toronto.