UNUSUAL AGREEMENT

We are used to seeing antagonism between religion and science, so when
the two agree on a topic we should pay attention (Health Researchers
Slam Tory Mandatory-Minimum-Sentence Proposal - Feb. 7). A week
earlier, the Church Council on Justice and Corrections, which
represents 11 of the largest Christian denominations, condemned the
same mandatory minimum sentencing bill.

Both groups pointed out that such mandatory sentencing is unjust,
expensive, and totally ineffective in lowering drug-use, crime, and
violence.

I gave a series of lectures in American correctional institutions and
have witnessed firsthand the effects of the sentencing requirements
that have made up America's disastrous war on drugs. These men and
women - most as intelligent and talented as my undergraduate students
- - are wasting their lives in prison.

Many of them have made mistakes; some of them are dangerous. However,
Bill S-10 would make it difficult for judges and prosecutors to
separate the two.

Apart from the important questions surrounding the justice of such
sentences, is the question of public expense. It costs the same to
incarcerate a murderer or a person who sells marijuana to support a
drug habit. I don't mind spending tax dollars protecting society from
murderers. To spend the same amount on someone who sells a bag of weed
is stupid.

David Seljak, chair, department of religious studies, University of
Waterloo, Waterloo, Ont.