MINISTER DEFENDS MANDATORY MINIMUMS

Drug Crimes Targeted

Canada's justice minister says people who sell or grow marijuana
belong in jail because pot is used as a "currency" to bring harder
drugs into the country.

"This lubricates the business and that makes me nervous," Rob
Nicholson told the Commons justice committee yesterday as he faced
tough questions about a controversial bill to impose automatic jail
and prison sentences for drug crimes, including growing as little as
one pot plant.

"Marijuana is the currency that is used to bring other more serious
drugs into the country."

Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act currently contains no
mandatory prison sentences and judges use their own discretion about
whether to send drug pushers and growers to jail.

But the Conservatives have proposed legislation that would impose
one-year mandatory jail time for marijuana dealing, when it is linked
to organized crime or when a weapon is involved.

The sentence would be increased to two years for dealing drugs such as
cocaine, heroin or methamphetamines to young people, or pushing drugs
near a school or other places frequented by youths.

The proposed legislation would impose six months for growing one to
200 marijuana plants to sell, and two years for big-time growers of
500 plants or more.

The bill is arguably the most controversial

piece of justice legislation introduced by the Conservative and
critics have warned that, if passed, it could flood prisons and jails.

Opposition critics voiced concerns yesterday that a crackdown would
not only target big-time dealers, but it would end up sending drug
addicts to provincial prisons, which have few treatment programs in
place.

New Democrat Libby Davies repeatedly grilled Mr. Nicholson on whether
he has any evidence that minimum mandatory jail terms reduce crime.
Ms. Davies cited studies prepared for the Justice Department several
years ago showing that automatically jailing drug criminals does
nothing to deter crime, as has been shown in the United States.

"Many States are repealing their mandatory minimums," Ms. Davies
said.

Mr. Nicholson declined to supply any evidence to the contrary, but he
insisted that "we are absolutely convinced in our consultation with
Canadians that this is welcomed across the country."

There are already more than two dozen minimum prison terms in the
Criminal Code, mainly for murder and offences involving firearms.

Mr. Nicholson also faced questioning from the Bloc Quebecois on why
the Conservatives want to impose minimum jail terms for marijuana,
when many of the people who sell it and grow it are small-time criminals.

The move to jail pot pushers and growers "sends a strong message" that
is a far cry from an initiative of the former Liberal government to
decriminalize marijuana possession, Mr. Nicholson said.

As a result of the Liberal actions, Canadians remain confused about
the legal status of smoking marijuana, he said.

Mr. Nicholson's bill, introduced two months ago, is similar to one the
Conservatives tabled in late 2007, which died when the Oct. 14 general
election was called.