Pubdate: Sat, 05 Jan 2002 Source: Sudbury Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2002 The Sudbury Star Contact: http://www.thesudburystar.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/608 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion) EDITORIAL OUR OPINION Alliance Between OPP And Sudbury Police Is The Way To Proceed In This Never-Ending Battle BATTLING THE ILLEGAL DRUG TRADE The elite police squad known as the joint street crime unit is a formal alliance between the Ontario Provincial Police and the Greater Sudbury Police Service. Its goal is simple: to combine skills, strengths, knowledge and sources to come down hard on the drug trade. Since the unit was formed three months ago, 40 individuals in northeastern Ontario have been charged with 120 drug-related and criminal code offences, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of marijuana and hard drugs have been seized, pot growing operations in Noelville and Capreol have been found and destroyed and a group of alleged traffickers was intercepted and arrested at Pearson Airport in Toronto. This team has a big job to do. Drugs flow into the North on a daily, if not hourly, basis. Cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin and ecstasy have invaded city streets. Marijuana is grown right here. By creating this joint task force, the two police services have demonstrated an admirable single-mindedness. Rather than approach the problem from opposite ends, in their own jurisdictions and using their own resources, they are working together to effect change, a high-level assault on the organized drug trade in Sudbury and throughout the North. An attack on the drug trade has spinoff benefits, as other crimes - theft, assault, burglary, prostitution - can be linked to drug abuse. Not everyone out there, though, is a big-time "player" on the drug scene. Consider the case of the man arrested last summer with about 11 grams of marijuana in his van. As reported in Thursday's Sudbury Star, he was pulled over for a traffic violation and police noticed the odour of marijuana. A search turned up the drugs, with an estimated street value of about $100. Definitely small-time. The accused entered a plea of guilt and was fined $200. Was this really the best use of the justice system? That fine doesn't even begin to approach the cost of arresting, processing and prosecuting the accused. It doesn't take a significant quantity of drugs off the street. It takes the smallest nibble out of the drug trade, not the growling bites the joint task force is tearing away. There's been a steady, low-key call for the decriminalization of "soft drugs" in Canada for several years now. That doesn't mean legalization - - it simple means the possession of small quantities of marijuana for personal use becomes a misdemeanour, akin to getting a traffic ticket. That call received a high-level boost in November, right in the House of Commons. An open vote is expected sometime this year on a private member's bill introduced by Canadian Alliance MP Keith Martin, who says a majority of federal politicians, including Liberals, support his call for the decriminalization of marijuana. Bill C-344 would impose a system of fines - up to $1,000 - rather than criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of pot. Under Martin's plan, there would be no need for a person like the aforementioned dope smoker to be arrested, jailed and put on trial for possessing a small amount of marijuana. When the efforts of the joint task force are looked at, this argument makes sense. The Greater Sudbury Police and the OPP have their priorities straight: use the street crime unit to target the heavy hitters. Take down the traffickers. Take the dealers off the street. Burn pot crops. Come down hard on thieves who steal from pharmacies, as happened just days ago in Val Caron. But there has to be a better way to deal with the small fry. Wasting the skills and resources of highly-trained police and court professionals to issue a $200 fine to a man who likes to smoke a little grass seems like an exercise in futility. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake