May I speak to that?
Even when the penalties are well known, there is very little reason to believe there is deterrence. This is one point where I may disagree with my friend Alan Borovoy, and no doubt I'll pay for it afterwards, but I don't believe that whether there is an exemption or not will make the slightest bit of difference to whether it's a deterrent.
We are not talking about a circumstance where either there's a penalty or there's not a penalty. We're talking about variations in severe penalties.
I can tell you, two weeks in jail is a pretty good deterrent from my perspective. I've spent enough time in prisons to know that I don't want to be there overnight. Two years is a good reason. Four years is a good reason. The loss of your life and your income in your community.... There are all sorts of good reasons not to commit crime.