Posted on 09/12/2003 6:55:44 AM PDT by Wolfie
U.S. Drug Czar Claims Canada is Too Lax Prosecuting Drug Crimes
Seattle -- While police are aggressive about arresting people for drug crimes north of the border, Canada's court system treats marijuana and methamphetamine producers too leniently, the U.S. drug czar said Thursday.
"What Canadian officials tell us is that they have laws on the books that could be used here, but that the Canadian system has developed the practice of not sentencing people to anything approaching serious time unless they commit a violent crime," John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy told The Associated Press. "So you can set up grows, you can ship drugs, you can be caught, and very little happens to you."
Paul Kennedy, Canada's senior assistant deputy solicitor general, countered that stiff sentences aren't the only way to crack down on illegal drug use.
"One factor is the severity of sentence, but it is not determinative by itself, and not every case calls for a long sentence," Kennedy said in a phone interview from Ottawa.
Convicted drug traffickers can be sentenced to life in prison, Kennedy noted, adding that the Canadian government recently proposed doubling the maximum sentence for cultivating 50 or more pot plants to 14 years.
Kennedy acknowledged the United States' gripes about pot smuggling from British Columbia and other provinces, but he pointed out there's a lot more marijuana coming into the United States from Mexico.
U.S. authorities seized 15,400 kilograms of pot along the northern border from October 2002 through July of this year, compared to more than 544,300 kilograms along the southwestern border, according to the latest U.S. Customs figures available.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Jean Chretien's government proposed a law that would treat possession of small amounts of marijuana much like traffic violations. U.S. officials have called the proposal a horrible idea, saying it would lead to more drug smuggling along the 6,400-kilometre border.
Walters criticized Initiative 75, a measure on next Tuesday's ballot in Seattle that would make marijuana possession the city's lowest law-enforcement priority. He acknowledged that marijuana doesn't cause health problems as severe as those caused by cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine, but said that shouldn't make it less of a concern.
"What people do not understand today is that of the roughly seven million people age 12 and above who need treatment in this country because of their dependence or abuse of illegal drugs, 60 per cent are dependent on marijuana," Walters said. "It is more a factor in producing treatment need than any other illegal drug."
Seattle was Walters' sixth stop in a 25-city national tour promoting the government's anti-drug campaign.
Much of the U.S. government's $11.5 billion US drug control budget is doled out to cities and states for programs ranging from education to enforcement.
In his 2004 budget proposal, President George W. Bush pitched a new $200 million initiative that would give vouchers to people seeking drug treatment at the centre of their choice, including religious programs. Some civil libertarians and those who work in traditional treatment programs have said they're concerned that religious groups could be eligible for highly sought-after government dollars.
Walters touted the voucher idea as one of many ways the administration is trying to get more people involved in the fight against drug addiction.
"We need more people to lean in and not look the other way," he said. "The sooner we intervene, the sooner we create a collective responsibility that says, 'We're not going to let you destroy yourself.' "
Walters said he knows what needs to be done to curb drug use, and he's going to make it happen.
"We're not going to say that we've tried to just give money and good speeches about this," he said. "We know how to prevent drug use. We know the importance of preventing drug use. We know that if you do not begin using illegal drugs, alcohol and cigarettes when you're a teenager, the number who go on to use is extremely small, and the number who of those that go on to use and have a problem is even smaller."
He said winning the war on drugs will require better co-ordination of prevention, law enforcement, treatment and other services for addicts.
"They're treating people, they're trying to get people into recovery, but they're not as tied to people that are going to help provide housing and jobs and education to make sure the recovery has the best prospect of succeeding," Walters said. "What we're trying to do is not just run good individual programs at the federal level. We're trying to make sure those programs are making a difference."
Also on Thursday, Walters toured the U.S. Coast Guard's vessel traffic system for Puget Sound, where he spoke about the link between anti-drug and counterterrorism efforts.
Wow---restricting the law to protecting individual rights. What a concept.
U.S. authorities seized 15,400 kilograms of pot along the northern border from October 2002 through July of this year, compared to more than 544,300 kilograms along the southwestern border, according to the latest U.S. Customs figures available.
Hey, Dubya won't let Johnny push around the Mexicans, and he's not happy unless he's pushing SOMEbody around.
Walters said he knows what needs to be done to curb drug use, and he's going to make it happen.
He's going to make better parenting happen? LOL! What a horse's @ss.
That sounds like a pretty good policy to me.
Well hold on just a minute here. Its the typical mantra of the libertarian-bashers to say that drug use costs "society" in the form of treatment of addicts, among other things. Libertarians reject that government should treat addicts. But here we have good 'ol George stealing money from taxpayers to pay for the treatment of addicts.
Libertarians are against tax payer funded tyreatment, while George Bush supports it. Ok, who's side are you on? Socialism pushed by Bush, or free market pushed by libertarians? There is no way around it. No argument. Bush is pushing socialism.
Sounds like .... victory.
They're always roamin' off and sticking their noses where they don't belong.
Yep, its pretty funny when Walters and Ascroft cry about the policies of other countries. I'm with you there.
Having auditory hallucinations, I see. Too bad.
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