Bill C-26 Promises More People in Prison
Note: Parliament has adjourned
for the summer and reconvenes in mid-September...
Bill C-26 is the Conservative Government's set of proposed changes
to the Criminal Code, in particular the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act. This Bill--if it passes--will have some deeply
damaging effects on our society. You can
read
the Bill here.
For cultivating marijuana, the Bill legislates mandatory minimum
sentences of 6 months for growing as little as one plant "for the
purposes of trafficking"; 1 year for 201-500 plants, and 2 years
for 500+ plants. Producing Hash or other cannabis derivatives would
require a mandatory 1-year sentence in prison.
The length of this "minimum punishment" is increased by 50% (ie. 6
months to 9 months, 1 year to 18 months) whenever "factors" appear,
which include: growing in a residential area, growing in a rental
house, growing anywhere there are children under the age of 18 in
the vicinity. The maximum sentence for growing marijuana under C26
would be doubled to 14 years from the current 7 years.
The BC Compassion Club would like to voice our serious opposition
to the Bill and call on our members and the public to join us in
letting it be known that this is an unacceptable and damaging piece
of legislation, that will not serve Canadian society well at all.
The BC Compassion Club represents the interests of over 4,500
members who live with serious or terminal illnesses and find great
benefit from cannabis. The potential for mandatory sentencing to
harm our compassionate cultivators and consequently our membership
is a real concern and many people's well-beings are at stake.
For medical marijuana cultivators to be included in the definition
of "trafficking" would be a great travesty to the many people
living with illnesses who rely on them to provide essential, clean
and high-quality medecine. We practice a high standard of due
diligence in order to ensure the quality of the cannabis we receive
for our membership, as well as the integrity of its sources.
Research in the medical community has consistently reaffirmed the
benefits of cannabinoids in alleviating and treating a wide variety
of illnesses, as well as supporting compliance with medical
treatment regimes. It is time for medical cannabis--whose value has
been recognized by many patients, much of the medical community, in
the courts and society--to be acknowledged in law, and for
Compassion Clubs to be fully freed to exercise their accumulated
expertise and knowledge base in serving those among us living with
illnesses.
We are also at a time in our society where public familarity with
cannabis and widespread knowedge of its lack of significant harms
deem that, as a society, we should remove cannabis from the list of
dangerous and prohibited drugs.
Beyond our own specific concerns in the medical marijuana
community, other implications of Bill C26 and Mandatory Minimum
Sentences that will damage our society include:
1) The jailing of many non-violent offenders--unjustly deprived of
their liberty, forced out of the economy and imprisoned at
taxpayers' expense. This will ruin lives, tear the social fabric
further and have a diminishing effect on civil liberties and
freedom.
2) Overburdening a prison system that is already over-capacity.
Will mandatory minimum sentences create the justification for
"necessary" mass expansion or for-profit privatization of the
prison system?
3) Evidence from the U.S. experience with applying mandatory
minimum sentences shows no impact on supply or demand. There is a
clear failure for mandatory minimum sentencing to achieve its own
stated objectives. The U.S. has 2.1 million of its own population
in prison, with 54% of federal offenders there for drug sentences.
Are these the footsteps we want to follow in?
4) As we all know, marijuana is a crucial undustry in the BC
economy. With the greater risks of increased punishment, mom &
pop grow-ops will be the most likely to be pushed out of the
market, to be replaced by organized crime--willing to face those
increased risks (& profits), bringing with them a whole level
of violence and other social problems.
The Bill has currently passed second reading and is before the
Standing Committee on Human Rights and Justice. They are scheduling
testimony from experts and stake-holders and may possibly introduce
amendments before the Bill passes back to the House for its final
reading and vote.
The BC Compassion club has submitted our request to provide
testimony on Bill C-26 before the Committee. Support this request
by e-mailing the Standing Committee at JUST@parl.gc.ca and letting
them know that, as stakeholders in this proposed legislation, we
want to ensure our viewpoint and evidence is represented in this
debate!
We Need Harm Reduction, Not Punishment!!!
This is a Confidence Motion--let your MP know this is an issue
worth bringing down the government for!!!!
***
For some more information, read the Bill directly or see lawyer
Kirk Tousaw on
Youtube or read this
article
from Cannabis Culture.
