Drug Policy

Soft on TruthWhen you look beyond the paternalism, cynicism, genuine concern -- whatever motives drive the Harper government's punitive approach to crime -- only one question matters. Is it effective? Will closing Vancouver's safe injection site, Insite, reduce drug addiction and related crime? Will imposing six-month minimum jail sentences on anyone caught with as few as five marijuana plants inhibit pot-smoking among teenagers? Will expanding prisons reduce violence in our streets? Most legal experts, criminologists, addiction researchers and street-level health workers, along with many police chiefs and past reports from Parliamentary committees, say "no" -- as does the experience of other "tough-on-crime" jurisdictions. ...As New Democrat Libby Davies noted: "What they are doing is not based on evidence, whatsoever. It's a political stance."

Tough-on-crime justice minister once opposed mandatory minimum sentencesOTTAWA — Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, one of Canada's most vocal champions of fixed minimum prison sentences, once opposed the idea of removing discretion for judges to sentence as they see fit. As a Tory backbencher in 1988, Nicholson was vice-chairman of a parliamentary committee that rejected the expansion of automatic incarceration, asserting that it doesn't work, overcrowds jails and takes too hefty of a social and financial toll.

Justice Minister Nicholson pushes crime bill he used to be againstFederal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who is pushing the government's tough on crime agenda and plans to revive the bill on mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes in the next Parliamentary session, did not support the proposed law when he was a Mulroney backbencher. In 1988, Mr. Nicholson vice-chaired a Parliamentary committee that released a report recommending mandatory minimum sentences not be used, except in the case of repeat violent sexual offenders. The committee found, based on testimony and the U.S. experience, that the law didn't work and increases prison populations....NDP MP Libby Davies (Vancouver East, B.C.), whose party voted against Bill C-15, said Mr. Nicholson's zest for introducing mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes is purely political.

Appeal court allows safe-injection site to stay openThe B.C. Court of Appeal has dismissed a federal government appeal of an exemption granted InSite, Vancouver's supervised-injection site, which means the facility -- the first of its kind in Canada -- will remain open. The federal government is expected to appeal Friday's ruling, a split 2-1 decision that carries an automatic right of appeal, to the Supreme Court of Canada. Dr. Julio Montaner, president of the International AIDS Society, called Friday's court ruling "a tremendous victory for [those of] us involved in the Downtown Eastside. It sends a very clear message to [Prime Minister] Stephen Harper and his draconian policies." New Democrat MP for Vancouver East Libby Davies told the rally that the federal government should not waste further time and money on an appeal.

B.C. court rules Vancouver's Insite safe injection site can stay openVANCOUVER -- The B.C. Court of Appeal has dismissed a federal government appeal, which means InSite, the Vancouver supervised safe-injection site that was the first of its kind in Canada, will remain open. The federal government is expected to appeal Friday's split 2-1 ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada. Dr. Julio Montaner, president of the International AIDS Society, called Friday's court ruling "a tremendous victory for us involved in the Downtown Eastside. It sends a very clear message to [Prime Minister] Stephen Harper and his draconian policies." Vancouver East MP Libby Davies told the rally that federal government should not waste further time and money on an appeal. "They need to think about common sense here," she said.