DOES DOING TIME REDUCE CRIME?

Re: Wrong On Crime, Conrad Black and Evan Wood, May 14; Black's Sage Advice
On Prison Reform, letter to the editor, May 18.

This column opposing minimum prison sentences is inaccurate when it
states that tough laws for drug offences have been ineffective.
According to the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy Report,
the vast majority of prisoners in U.S. jails are violent criminals,
repeat offenders, traffickers or all of the above -most are not
incarcerated for drug violations.

Moreover, a Canadian expert advisory committee says there is no proof
that a lenient approach to drug use, such as a safe-injection site in
Vancouver, reduces the crime rate. In fact, 65 officers from the
Vancouver police department patrol the five-block area of the site in
order to control the crime.

C. Gwendolyn Landolt, president, Drug Prevention Network of Canada,
Richmond Hill, Ont.