We believe the current criminal justice approach to drug use is failing our generation and our society and is leading to increased harm from drug use. The Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy neither encourages nor condemns drug use, and we recognize the social and individual harms caused by problematic drug use. CSSDP was specifically formed to address the lack of young people's voices in Canadian drug policy.
We find it problematic that current Canadian drug policy approaches, including that of Bill C-15, are often justified in the name of protecting young people but that these young people are not consulted in the creation of the legislation. As a result, these policies do little to affect the realities of youth and in some cases result in the actual criminalization of young people.
Throughout my presentation I will focus on young people and youth, whom we consider to be anyone under the age of 25. I will address three concerns today. The first one is the introduction of mandatory minimum sentences, which I'm told I can call MMs. There are experts speaking to this today, so I'll leave that to them. They are going to speak to the disastrous impacts of MMs, so I'm only going to touch on our youth concerns.
We are against the use of MMs as a response to drug use and drug-related problems. We believe it is essential that decisions relating to the future of young Canadians who have been charged for their drug use or addictions be left in the hands of Canada's judges and not of the police or prosecutors. We are concerned not only because MMs disproportionately punish the wrong people, but also because Bill C-15's focus is on incarceration as a solution, and it ignores other important aspects of dealing with drug use and addiction in Canada. Drug use and addiction and drug-related crime cannot be dealt with effectively without looking at the broader social issues intertwined with these problems.
The astronomical financial cost associated with the implementation of Bill C-15 inevitably means a continued lack of funding for other programs dedicated to the prevention of drug use, treatment of people with addictions, and reduction of harms related to drug use. Incarceration is not an effective way to treat drug use or addiction among young people—or any person with drug addiction, for that matter. Widening the net of criminalization and marginalization will not create a safer, healthier Canada and will not create a safe, viable future for young people.
My second point is on aggravating factors contained in the bill. Bill C-15 contains several aggravating factors that automatically increase the minimum sentence for the individual charged. It is clear that many of these factors are designed to protect youth, but the dangerously vague language of this bill means that youth often can and will be harmed instead of helped.
For example, proposed item 5(3)(a)(ii)(C) in subclause 1(1) reads that a mandatory minimum sentence of two years is given if
the person used the services of a person under the age of 18 years, or involved such a person, in committing the offence.
Clearly, this clause was added with the intent to protect youth, but the vague language means that an 18-year-old sharing a joint with a 17-year-old friend could end up in jail for two years because of this really vague language.
Another provision in this bill that is of great concern for us is in proposed item 5(a)(ii)(A), under which an individual receives a mandatory minimum sentence of two years if the offence is committed
in or near a school, on or near school grounds or in or near any other public place usually frequented by persons under the age of 18 years
This could literally be anywhere: the street, the mall, movie theatres, or parks. If a place is frequented by young people, then it is more likely young people who will be doing time under the MMs in our already overcrowded jails and prisons.
The government is aiming to protect youth with Bill C-15. We recognize that substance abuse among youth is a great concern in Canadian society, but there is no evidence to show that increasing the potential consequences will have an influence on the decisions of young people or anyone else to use, produce, or traffic drugs. This bill and mandatory minimums in general do nothing to address the root causes of drug use.
The third point I'm going to touch on concerns drug treatment courts.
While recognizing the important role that treatment can play in deterring crime, we have several concerns with the bill's inclusion of drug treatment courts. Perhaps most importantly for this bill, only six cities have drug treatment courts and therefore only a select group of people will have the option to participate. Building drug courts in cities that don't currently have one is an expensive process, and drug courts are not viable in rural areas because the population is too small. First and foremost, drug treatment courts cannot be used to justify this bill, because they are only available to a small number of people, excluding individuals in smaller cities and rural areas.
We are also concerned with the results we have seen from the drug courts so far. The average percentage of people who graduate from drug courts in Canada is around 10%.
The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse found that program completion rates evidenced in the evaluations of the Toronto and Vancouver drug courts are unacceptable by any standard of care, including that for the treatment of high-risk and high-need populations. Most drug courts lack client-specific programs that are required to meet the needs of different treatment groups, including women, aboriginal communities, young people, and people with co-occurring problems.
Further, low rates of completion of the program significantly elevate the overall cost to treat a single individual. For example, the total cost to run the Vancouver Drug Treatment Court for three and a half years was over $4 million. Since only 42 people graduated, the cost per graduate was just under $100,000. This money would have been or would be better spent on evidenced-based treatment, affordable housing, employment programs that give people a chance to get out of the cycle of imprisonment, child care for women wanting to attend treatment programs, and youth-based education programs for prevention.
Drug courts also use treatment services in the community, and people who are voluntarily on the long wait list for treatment get bumped off it for people in the drug treatment courts. This sets up a system whereby one has to be criminally charged to get access to treatment services.
There are also cases of marginalization present in the drug treatment courts. As I said, they are not available to all and they are not equally effective for all. Women are less likely to apply to drug courts, and if they do, they are much less likely than men to graduate. There are numerous reasons for this, including lack of gender-specific programming and being forced into group therapy with men, including men who are former dealers or boyfriends.
This is especially important to note given that mandatory minimums for drug offences in the U.S. resulted in dramatic increases in women in prison. Therefore, not only would Bill C-15 result in more women and mothers in prison, it would unfairly set women up to have no other option than to serve the mandatory minimum sentences.
The Winnipeg Drug Treatment Court evaluation states that graduation may be biased towards better-advantaged people who are of the majority: people who are white, socio-economically advanced, and male.
While in principle we agree that treatment is a better option than incarceration for individuals struggling with drug use and addiction, the reality of drug courts in Canada leaves a lot to be desired. The dismal results of the program so far show that they have not been as effective as they are made out to be, and they do not present a fair treatment option for everyone.
If I still have time, I want to leave you with some words of a 22-year-old street-involved addict who lives here in Ottawa. She says:
When I started using opiates intravenously I was too young and naive to understand the consequences. I had no understanding of addiction or of what a physical dependancy was. I can't change the past, all I can do is try to survive through today.
In order to clean-up I need support and treatment, not drug court or a prison sentence. You wouldn't punish my PTSD with a 2yr minimum sentence so why would you put me in jail for an affliction I am ashamed to have.
Incarceration won't solve my addiction, it will make it stronger and I will loose more control. The reasons I use drugs won't just dissapear because I change where I live. When I get jailed because of Bill C-15 I will loose my motivation and hope for sobriety, I will have no access to sterile...equipment, use more/different drugs and learn about crime (of which i presently know nothing). How will I re-intergrate? I want a job, I want an appartment, I want methadone, and to have a future where I can travel.
I don't want to go to jail. I want to get clean. I deserve a chance, with Bill C-15 that chance will be taken away.
In terms of recommendations, given the evidence that mandatory minimum sentences for drug offences do not deter drug use or crime and the devastating impact these sentences could potentially have on Canadian society, the Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy recommends that Bill C-15 be abandoned.
Thank you for your consideration. I apologize for talking too fast.