YOUTH DRUG CASES UP

Court Numbers Triple In Last Decade

The number of kids in Canadian courts on drug charges has tripled in the
last decade despite a drop in nearly every other form of youth crime, says
Statistics Canada.

More often than not, it's small amounts of pot that put a kid in Alberta
before a judge on drug charges, said lawyer Neena Ahluwalia of the Youth
Criminal Defence Office, a government-funded legal aid agency for minors.

"The vast majority of drugs we see are marijuana," Ahluwalia said. "Of
course, they're not going to have large quantities of drugs, especially if
we're talking marijuana, because it's so easy to get."

If a kid isn't in court for a small amount of pot, he's usually facing
charges for possessing a somewhat larger quantity of cocaine or meth, she said.

Organized crime could be a factor in the sharp increase in these types of
cases, said Ahluwalia.

After all, a summer job running drugs is far more lucrative and attractive
than one in the fast food industry, she said.

"It's easy money, the lure is there. You either get a job at Mickey D's, or
make a lot more doing this," she said.

Ahluwalia said she usually see kids getting involved in the drug trade at
around the age of 16 or 17.

According to StatsCan numbers released Friday, youth courts in Canada heard
85,640 cases during the 2001 to 2002 fiscal year, down 16% overall from
1992 to A 41% decline in property crime was responsible for the overall
drop, said the federal agency.

However, the survey found that the number of drug-related youth cases rose
from 1,924 to 6,058 in the last 10 years, with two-thirds of those cases
identified as possession of drugs.

Young Offenders Act offences were also up, by 33%.

Alberta courts reported 366 possession cases and 213 trafficking cases
through 2001, said StatsCan.

Two possible reasons for this jump in drug-related court appearances leap
to mind, said University of Alberta criminal law professor Sanjeev Anand.

"In all likelihood, these crimes can be attributed to organized crime, and
(kids are) being used as low-risk couriers," he said. They make attractive
drug couriers because they face less severe penalties if caught by police,
he added.

Anand said his guess is that most of the drug cases are for simple
possession. "Police are not using their discretion and they're simply
charging young people when the opportunity arises.

"If that's the case, decriminalization should stem the tide."

The bill to decriminalize marijuana was introduced in May. Under the
proposed new law, youths caught with less than 15 grams of marijuana could
be fined up to $250.