WRONG ON CRIME, Editorial, People's Voice,June 16-30, 2009, issue

(The following article is from the June 16-30, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

People's Voice Editorial


Hungry for power, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is helping the Harper Tories to pass Bill C-15, under which people convicted of "serious" drug crimes will automatically face prison terms of six months or longer. But as the expert witnesses called to speak to this legislation pointed out, the law will simply jam more people into over-crowded prisons, while doing nothing to address the health crisis related to drug abuse.

Ignatieff's move has angered many Liberals who understand the facts about drugs and the legal system. But Iggy seems terrified that he might be called "soft on crime."

Anyone who still thinks that mandatory incarceration will reduce drug abuse should look south of the border, where 100,000 more non-violent offenders rot in jails than in the entire European Union. The "war on drugs" has certainly padded the profits of the drug lords - but it hasn't reduced drug use.

And consider the health implications of C-15. Research shows that the incarceration of injection drug users is a factor driving Canada's worsening HIV epidemic. The number of HIV cases in Canadian prisons has risen by 35 percent in the last five years, and a recent study found that 21 percent of all HIV infections among Vancouver injection drug users may have been acquired in prison. Expanding the prison population is a sure-fire way to accelerate the spread of HIV and hepatitis C in Canada.

How about the financial burden of C-15? Every study comparing treatment to incarceration shows that the cost of treating HIV and hepatitis C as a health problem is far cheaper than the expense of locking up drug users for lengthy periods.

Some still believe that society can simply lock up the "bad guys" and throw away the key. But it won't work, and it will cost far more than treating drug abuse as a health matter. C-15 is another step toward a society where the state has sweeping powers to jail entire sections of the population. That's called fascism, and Michael Ignatieff must be reminded that C-15 is not acceptable.