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Canadian HIV/AIDS Advocate Group Cautions Canada Should Avoid U.S.-Style Drug Laws |
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Written by Wire Services
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Thursday, 20 April 2006 |
In a paper released today, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network warned that U.S.-style mandatory minimum sentences for drug offences should be a policy non-starter for the new federal government.
"Throwing non-violent drug users in prison is an overly simplistic and costly approach that has already failed in the United States and will most certainly fail in Canada," said Joanne Csete, Executive Director of the Legal Network. "That's why we're urging Prime Minister Harper to reconsider his plan to Americanize Canada's drug laws."
Earlier this month, in a speech to the Canadian Professional Police Association, the Prime Minister stated his government's intention to introduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug-trafficking offences. Yesterday, he repeated his pledge to "toughen criminal justice" to the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce.
"There's no proof that mandatory sentences reduce drug use or the problems associated with it," maintained Csete. "In fact, there's evidence that it creates more public health problems than it solves."
Mandatory-sentencing policies have produced record incarceration rates of non-violent drug users in the United States. In addition to the massive cost of a larger prison population, higher incarceration rates lead to higher infection rates of blood-borne diseases like HIV and hepatitis C. Higher infection rates ultimately result in greater health-care costs. Since most prisoners are eventually released back into the community, the public health implications of imprisoning non-violent people who use drugs cannot be ignored.
Even a detailed examination conducted for the Department of Justice Canada in 2002 concluded that mandatory minimum sentences do not work. Such measures, it said, are "least effective in relation to drug offences"; "drug consumption and drug-related crime seem to be unaffected, in any measurable way, by severe (mandatory minimum sentences)."
"Talking about 'getting tough on crime' may be politically expedient, but when it comes to drug issues, clearly the rhetoric isn't backed up by reason," concluded Csete. "What Canada needs now is a sensible approach to drug policy - a smart one based on solid scientific evidence, sound public health principles and respect for human rights."
The policy paper, entitled "Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Drug Offences: Why Everyone Loses," is available at www.aidslaw.ca along with a backgrounder answering frequently asked questions. |
