Pubdate: Thu, 01 Sep 2011 Source: Independent, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2011 Metroland Media Group Ltd. Contact: http://www.northumberlandnews.com/opinion/submitletter Website: http://northumberlandnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1596 Author: Al Graham AGAINST NEW CRIME BILL To the editor: The Conservative government of Stephen Harper's has several former police officers in it, including our MP Rick Norlock. When these former police officers where arresting people, they always had to go by the evidence before them to build a case. It makes one wonder what happened to that common sense once they were elected. As Mr. Harper's government gets closer to bringing in its large crime bill, which includes warrantless searches of your Internet use, where is the evidence that these new mandatory minimum laws will be effective? It's a shame people who once required evidence no longer use it to form our country's first ever mandatory minimum cannabis laws. If our government did its research, they would see the evidence from the United States is enough to stop anyone from implementing this useless sentencing. After 30 years of mandatory minimum cannabis laws, the U.S. is now the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world. The result, California and other states are now releasing non-violent cannabis users as their jail system is over burdened. This January, California actually decriminalized cannabis because mandatory minimum laws are ineffective and extremely costly. What about the children? Evidence from places such as Holland and Portugal where cannabis is decriminalized or a low priority has showed a different approach is being effective. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, the result of the U.S. laws is that their youth rate of cannabis is 37 per cent while in countries like the Netherlands the rate is at 17 per cent. While we're told decriminalization will increase cannabis use the evidence says otherwise. It makes one wonder why these former police officers don't look at the real evidence. In 1925, with no evidence provided to Canadians, cannabis became illegal. Now 86 years later the same thing is happening with these mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Al Graham Campbellford - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.