BILL C-15 DANGEROUS AND RADICAL CHANGE IN CANADA'S DRUG POLICY

Bill C-15 is a dangerous and radical change in Canadian drug policy
that will further enrich gangsters, create more violence on our
streets, and assuredly fail to reduce either the demand for, or the
availability of, drugs in our society.

This statement may seem bold. But it is backed by the preponderance
of available science. Comprehensive studies published by the Senate
of Canada, the Canadian Department of Justice, the European
Commission, the U.S. Congressional Research Service, the Fraser
Institute, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Rand
Corporation all support the view that mandatory minimum sentencing
for drug offences are useless at best. At worst, these policies will
increase the dangers associated with the drug markets and, therefore,
the chaos created on our streets.

The types of mandatory sentences contained in Bill C-15 have been
utter failures in the United States. There is no evidence that
harsher penalties affect drug use rates or the supply of drugs on the
streets. Nor do such sentences appear to deter prohibition-related violence.

Instead of seeing success from its mandatory sentencing policies, the
United States has become the world's largest jailer with one in every
99 adults in custody. The United States has five per cent of the
world's population and 25 per cent of the world's prisoners.

Many of those persons are serving time for non-violent drug offences.
Bottom line: the United States has some of the harshest sentencing
regimes in the non-totalitarian world while also suffering from the
highest rates of drug use, the highest violent crime rates and the
richest, most powerful gangs. Instead of serving a positive purpose,
Bill C-15 will increase the power of organized crime and the violence
associated with the illegal drug markets.

Indeed, the very idea of mandatory minimum sentences relies on
assumptions that are simply false. There is no evidence of any
deterrent effect on organized criminals: these people are already
willing to risk arrest, prosecution, incarceration and, indeed, a
violent death from other criminals in order to make the huge profits
associated with high-level drug trafficking.

There is no evidence of deterrent effect on street-level dealers:
these people are often addicted to the substances they sell and
commit the crime out of desperation driven by their addiction to very
expensive drugs. Worse, while Bill C-15 purports to target "serious"
drug offences, its terms apply to even very minor offences such as
growing a single marijuana plant. This helps no one in our society.

Currently, marijuana offences comprise more than three-quarters of
all drug crimes. This drains police resources that are better spent
elsewhere. Under a regulated market, police would have resources
freed up to investigate violent crimes and property offences. This
benefits us all. Bill C-15 does nothing to address this problem.
Indeed, it makes it worse.

Passing C-15 would be costly and dangerous to Canadians and Canadian society.

Jacob Hunter

Kirk Tousawa

Vancouver, B.C.

(The authors run the website WhyProhibition.ca).