Mandatory drug sentences 'colossal mistake', Canada told
'We have learned the hard way that long sentences are not deterring people' says attorney who wrote U.S. laws
An attorney who helped U.S. politicians write mandatory-minimum sentencing laws during the 1980s has a warning for Canadian parliamentarians.
Imposing long jail terms for minor drug offences has been a mistake in the U.S. and won't work in Canada," said Eric E. Sterling, who once served as counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.
"When you start going down this road of building more prisons and sending people away for long periods of time, and you convince yourself that this is going to deter people you've made a colossal mistake," said Sterling, who is the president of the Maryland-based Criminal Justice Policy Foundation.
"We have learned the hard way that long sentences are not deterring people from selling drugs when the profits are so great."
Sterling is one of 28 current and former law-enforcement officials in the U.S. who have written to Canadian senators, as well as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the premiers.
They take issue with Bill C-10, known as the Safe Streets and Communities Act, which includes mandatory-minimum sentences for drug offences and is currently being studied in the Senate.
The letter, written by the organization called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is the latest salvo in the dispute over Bill C-10, as well as the debate over the legalization of marijuana.
U.S. moving towards decriminalization
The organization calls on Canadian politicians to endorse the taxation and regulation of marijuana.
After all, it says the U.S. is becoming more progressive with its pot laws, noting 16 states and the District of Columbia have enacted medical-marijuana laws and 14 states have taken steps to decriminalize possession.
"We changed our minds and we encourage you to do the same," the group writes.
"Taxation and regulation of marijuana have the potential to dramatically improve community safety, raise tax revenue for cash-starved governments and allow precious law enforcement resources to be directed towards criminal activities where law enforcement actually reduced crime."
The 28 signatories include former and current police chiefs, border, customs and immigration agents, judges, prosecutors, correctional officials, law-enforcement officers, and legislative counsel.
Mandatory drug sentences 'colossal mistake', Canada told - Politics - CBC News
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