New Democrats on minimum sentences for drug crimes

[B. Friendly]

A couple letters I received from MR. JACK LAYTON

1. Thank you for your past email outlining your concerns over marijuana
laws in Canada.

Regrettably, the Conservative government has reintroduced legislation to
impose mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes. Bill S-10, an Act to
amend the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, follows up on their flawed
legislation from last session, Bill C-15.

New Democrats opposed Bill C-15 and continue to believe that this type
of legislation is wrong-headed and costly. The attached letter by my
colleague and NDP Spokesperson for Drug Policy Libby Davies, MP expands
on our position.

Looking forward, we remain committed to seeking other alternatives to
the Conservatives' heavy-handed US-style war-on-drugs approach. We think
it is time for a common sense drug strategy in Canada, one that
addresses drug use from a public health perspective.

Again, I appreciate hearing from you. All the best.

Sincerely,


Jack Layton, MP (Toronto-Danforth)
Leader, Canada's New Democrats

2.

May, 2010
Dear Friend,
Thanks for your email outlining your opposition to Bill S-10, an Act to amend the Controlled Drug and Substances Act.
I share your concerns and have been working at every turn to stop this failed, George Bush style war-on-drugs Bill that proposes mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes.
My NDP colleagues and I voted a resounding NO when this Bill was introduced in the House as Bill C-15, but it was passed with the support of the Liberal Party. Now we have a second chance to stop this wrong-headed and costly legislation.
The Conservative Government knows that mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes don’t work. After weeks of debate, testimony and studies delivered by extraordinary expert witnesses at a Parliamentary Justice Committee on the issue, the evidence was clear that mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes do not work. Organizations like the John Howard Society, the Canadian Bar Association and Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network all warned that these sentences mostly target low-level drug users and street dealers, and not the drug-lords and king-pins that the Conservatives have promised to go after.
Canada spends 73% of its drug policy budget on enforcement for what is essentially a public health issue. I will continue to push for the proven four pillar approach to drug use – including enforcement, but with real resources going to prevention, treatment and harm reduction. The Conservatives' iron fisted approach that criminalizes drug users is taking Canada in the wrong direction.
Sincerely,
Libby Davies, MP Vancouver East
NDP Spokesperson for Drug Policy

 

[B. Friendly]

I can no longer vote Conservative

what now, Liberal or NDP???????????

 

[jarff]

Theyl,l tell you what they think you want to hear....for your vote...
Beware of strangers bearing gifts

jarf

 

[B. Friendly]

Do you believe this, yes know???????
I am gonna respond and ask Jack to send me the vote of his pary on this issue

 

[amrad]

The NDP have always advocated the decriminalization of Pot for personal use in small amounts. Their outlook on criminality and society is at polar opposites to the Cons. as a socialist leaning party, less so now than in the past, they believe that if a person is nutured in a loving gentle atmosphere they will for the most part grow up to be gentle loving people.
The Con's believe we as humans are basically flawed, greedy and mean spirited. And that the only thing that enables us to live in a civil society is a rigid code of social and criminal laws. Therefor when ever you have a right wing conservative party in power, be prepared for lots of tightening of laws, bigger police force and more emphases on old time religion, after all their attitudes are taken right from the old testament. The Liberal and NDP are more new testament, forgiveness of sin, everyone deserves a second chance ext.
Just look at the founders of the various parties, Tommy Douglas was a minister. And of course we borrowed the other two parties from the Brits. But the liberals in Britain were always more for the common people, while the Con's represented the elites.
Sooo be careful how you vote, and do a bit of reading. :}

 

[apartmentblower]

I would say vote Libertarian for a party that truly would further our interests regarding drug use but due to the fucked up first past the post system you would basically be throwing your vote away.



do u ever watch parliamentary proceedings???? I get the feeling from viewing those monkeys that they are more interested in choosing whatever platform discredits their opposition and supports the longevity of their careers rather than any altruistic means. we saw libs vote for c-15 didn't we???

 

[amrad]

yep you are so right!
Unless and until we get electoral reform, like a elected senate, and proportional representation, we will forever be held hostage by the bandits.
And until people educate themselves and realize that politics rule every facet of your life. From your freedom to alter your consciousness, to what age you can drive and vote. To whether you can afford your own home. There is not one aspect of life that isn't influenced by politics. Ya even sex, anal sex was a criminal offense until the sixties, punishable by a prison term. The politicians were even up the asshole of the populace LOL I guess they liked it so much there still thereLOL
sooooo, if you want legalization of cannabis, its best to vote left of center. So far they seem to be most favorable to liberalizing the drug laws.

 

[B. Friendly]

We saw the Libs back down when Chretian had the opportunity to decriminilize, Chretian was even making jokes like don't start smoking so fast, he was indicating that leagalization was on the horizon,

the NDP has so many old supporters that they will not be infavour.

It's a catch 22, I will not vote conservative ever again, sorry fucked up last election.

 

[CareFreeLivin]

I've voted conservative the two elections I have been eligible to vote. Part of the learning process, imo. If the liberals oppose this legislation in the house then I will vote for them in the next election, but if they fail to do so, I guess my vote would head to the NDP.

 

[Hashmasta-Kut]

i cant believe any pothhead had to go thru that learning process.

 

[B. Friendly]

i cant believe any pothhead had to go thru that learning process.

ya feel like a dumb ass in hignsight, but at the time harper seemed more competant than paul martin. and the ndp to me was a wasted vote
obviously the times have proven much different

say what you want about the conservatives our economy is strong compared to most western nations, and under the ndp in BC all they did was bankrupt us. So more than likely I will go back to being a liberal I voted for them and then for the conservatives lesson learned.

 

[joe fresh]

ive always found layton to be a respectable person who lives his life how i would expect him to run the govornment, healthy and with an open mind to reason

 

[B. Friendly]

ive always found layton to be a respectable person who lives his life how i would expect him to run the govornment, healthy and with an open mind to reason

having said that do you think he can balance public and private business in the respect that his social mind would not tax the private sector unreasonably. The economy is important for all of us is what I am getting at. Do you think he could keep our dollar strong and the interest of socialism balanced????

 

[Reverend Mojo]

Vote Green.

Their drug policies are not as wishy washy like Layton's and gang.

 

[joe fresh]

having said that do you think he can balance public and private business in the respect that his social mind would not tax the private sector unreasonably. The economy is important for all of us is what I am getting at. Do you think he could keep our dollar strong and the interest of socialism balanced????

oh i totally get you, and thats why you have to look at the rest of the party and not just the head speaker(leader), because as you know the leader of the party is basically a spokesperson for their party and have somewhat of a final word. if your going to look for all the aspects of what you are looking for then you have to look at the whole party and all its reps, not just the leader.


but what i mean is that the best Leader of our country would be a man/woman who is firm, knows how to talk with other nations, and thinks about ALL the ppl and not just favor certain ppls.

but above all what we need is an Opern Minded person, where we have failed in the past with PM's is they are closed minded and think they are right and even when they are wrong they refuse to see anybody elses point of view or opinion

if we were to choose transparency and openminded as our 2 main charicteristics in our PM then we could have someone running our gov't who would be able to CHANGE a policy or decision he previously made because he had an open mind and was able to see it from others point of views.


for far too long we have chosen ppl who have "good tv/speaking ability", because we feel closer to them, like they could be one of our friends, but the reality is they put on these acts to get your vote, all parties do this(major parties, dont know bout the smaller ones.

put it this way, im one to vote for the smaller guy, simply because i feel like his policies arent bieng properly heard, and quite honestly i believe that they have somthing good to offer the ppl, even though they may not know everything and their policies may not all be good.

you have to look at things thru all aspects, and then make the best choice for all.

 

[amrad]

Ya its too bad that the center and left of center, we dont really have a true left wing party in Canada anymore, wouldnt form a coalition for the next election. Not that the Cons are evil, they really have done some grass roots reform of the banking and tax systems, I think, I'm not an economist but allowing tax free accounts and shared RRSP deductions are good for all of us. Its just that as far as social issues go they are friggen prehistoric, still back in the ''an eye for an eye'' era.
Like allowing the extradition of M Emery, he's an ego bag, but hey, he's our ego bag dam it and no one should be sending him to a foreign country to face trial for something that is legal in our country.
Thats why its so important to get Proportional Representation pushed through, then we might get a government that is socially progressive, and can still balance a bank account LOL

 

[CareFreeLivin]

i cant believe any pothhead had to go thru that learning process.

Didn't smoke pot at the time of the two elections, and I was a pretty young kid (still am) raised in a conservative city in a conservative household.

 

[B. Friendly]

All in all I am a liberal at heart with a socialist nagging me on my shoulder.

 

[cr0n]

I always thought the conservatives would go with the us style approch to this. But at this time it seems like you can't trust either the libs or the conservatives much. I hate to see the cons. gaining more popularity at the moment. They would really scare me if they ever got a majority government. So I have to vote for the leading opposition so they will never get that majority.

It is nice to see the NDP's approach to this. Thanks for posting it B.

 

[houndog]

Liberals might change stance

Liberals might change stance

Looks like the liberal Party is beginning to think mandatory sentences as not being such a good idea.