CONSERVATIVE DRUG STRATEGY BASED ON FAILED U.S. SCORCHED-EARTH
POLICY--B.C. CIVIL LIBERTIES BOSS

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is slamming Prime Minister
Stephen Harper's recently announced drug strategy, saying mandatory
minimum sentences for serious drug crimes poses a significant threat
to civil liberties.

In a release, the association said the approach has been used for
more than a decade in the United States and led to the imposition of
unjust prison sentences for non-violent drug offenders while failing
to reduce either the supply or demand for drugs.

The approach also strips away a judge's ability to assess the "entire
picture" of the individual and case to determine a sentence, said
Jason Gratl, the association's president.

"This scorched-earth policy is out of touch with the psychological
realities of drug addiction and drug distribution," Gratl said. "It's
so Richard Nixon."

Last week, Harper announced a two-year, $64 million anti-drug
strategy, with two-thirds going to prevention and treatment, and the
rest to enforcement. His announcement came the same week that Health
Minister Tony Clement agreed to extend the operating licence of the
city's supervised injection site until June 2008. The facility is
called Insite and is located on East Hastings.